A Light In The Darkest Shadow
by shy-n-great
Summary: COMPLETE-Hermione has been kidnapped by Voldemort. He has a plan to get Harry to him through her. In the meantime, Hermione has to stay as Lucius Malfoy's prisoner. Will she manage to breakthrough that cold exterior and escape? WARNING - Lucius can be OOC
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:**I still do not own anything Harry Potter related.

**A/N:**Here's yet another fan fiction from me. This is a weird one that just got stuck in my head and wouldn't go away. Feel free to flame me coz I've seen it happen to others but I won't be responding to them if they're not intelligent flames. Thanks to my brand spanking new beta for wanting to take on this task. Enjoy everyone. BTW, italics are flash back scene thingys.

**Chapter One**

Hermione rolled over on the cold hard floor. She instantly regretted it. The pain that shot through her body was horrendous. She lay flat on her back with her eyes tight shut while she waited for the pain to subside a little.

Hermione's jagged breath was slowly starting to even out. The pain eventually became a dull throb. She slowly opened her eyes to see where she was. She was in an extremely large living room that was decorated in greens, blacks and silvers. She was lying between an oversized fireplace, which was roaring with fire, and two high back chairs that had a small round table between them.

What Hermione could see around her, without moving, was the wall opposite the fireplace that disappeared into the shadows. There was a large chandelier with black candles on the ceiling behind the chairs. She looked at the wall straight ahead and found it had a window that was as tall as the wall. It was sunny outside but the rays didn't reach Hermione, or the room for that matter.

There was a sound of a door opening and closing from somewhere in the room. She could hear footsteps walking towards her.

"Sit up." A cold male voice demanded. Hermione tried to sit up but the minute she did, her body screamed in excruciating pain. She lay back down, feeling very ill with tears from the pain stinging her eyes. "Sit up, mudblood." He demanded again with more venom. She wanted to obey him, she really did but her body wouldn't allow her to.

"I can't." Hermione cried. She feared what would happen to her for disobeying him. She heard the person move closer to her. She wanted to see who it was but her tears blurred her vision. He grabbed the scruff of her shirt and picked her up effortlessly. He threw her into one of the chairs. She was screaming at the agony of it all, her body felt like it was on fire. What had they done to her?

Hermione's head was yanked back and her mouth forced open. The tears were streaming freely down her face. She felt a hot liquid being poured into her mouth and trickle down her throat. She felt the liquid start to spread its heat through her body from the pit of her stomach. When the heat disappeared, so did the pain that had been crippling her. She wiped the tears away and sat up.

Hermione looked up to find Lucius Malfoy staring down at her with a cold smile. He sat down in the other chair.

"How do you feel now?" He asked, looking her straight in the eye.

"Better, no thanks to you." Hermione told him defiantly while keeping eye contact with him. She remembered everything now.

_She had been in Hogsmeade to buy a book that would help her get extra credit on her Ancient Runes essay. She had gone alone because Harry and Ron were busy with Quidditch practice. She had not reached the town. Someone had grabbed her from behind and dragged her towards the Forbidden Forest. If she remembered correctly, they had pulled her under an invisibility cloak so that no one would see them. She had kicked and screamed but she was soon shut up with a sharp blow to the head. She passed out a few moments after the blow. What they had done to her afterwards, she didn't know. The pain she had experienced wasn't from that knock to the head._

"The Dark Lord has plans for you." He told her slyly.

"Like I didn't know that," She spat at him, "Why else would you have kidnapped me from under Dumbledore's nose?" He laughed cruelly at her.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe for some fun. You know, torture can be a great source of entertainment, as proved before. You are quite adorable when you scream." Hermione finally broke the eye contact with him to look in the fireplace. She felt ill at the thought of what they had done to her while she had been knocked out. Or had she been knocked out? Was what they did to her so bad that her mind had automatically blocked it out? Lucius stood up and in one stride he was at Hermione's chair. He placed one hand on each arm of her chair and moved his face dangerously close to hers. "Hope you like your new accommodation. This is where you will be staying for a while." He suddenly stood up straight. "Would you like to see your new room?"

"Do I have much choice?" She asked spitefully, still looking into the fire. Hermione's question was soon answered when Lucius sharply grabbed her wrist and dragged her off the chair. She quickly managed to get to her feet as he pulled her towards the door by the fireplace. The door led out to a long dark hallway that was lined with large oak doors, paintings of dark and sinister wizards, all leering at her, and a few candles floating here and there.

After a few minutes of walking down, what seemed to be, the never ending corridor, they came to an abrupt halt in front of one of the many doors. Lucius pulled out his wand and tapped the door three times with it. The door swung open to reveal a large, extravagant bedroom. Hermione gasped at the sight; she had been expecting to see dungeons. Lucius pulled her into the room and flung her forward. She tripped from the force and felt a dull crack in her arm as she landed. Hermione whimpered as her left arm erupted in pain. She sat up and clutched her arm.

"This room is bound by my magic and only my magic will let you out. Feel free to make all the attempts to escape that you want, but you won't get anywhere." Lucius chuckled a little, ignoring the fact that she had broken her arm.

"What do you want with me?" Hermione asked, looking up at him with teary eyes. For a tiny moment, she thought she saw guilt flicker across his face, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"That is for the Dark Lord to say." He told her coolly. He knelt down in front of her so quickly, that Hermione flinched in fear. "Come now, Miss Granger. Surely you would like that arm fixed?" Hermione's eyes widened. Had she heard correctly? He moved forward to take her arm but she clutched harder on to it. "Would you like to stay in pain?" He was losing his patience now. She reluctantly placed her arm in his hand. She was amazed at how gentle his touch was. With a point of his wand, it was healed. He gently moved her arm around to check his handiwork. Smiling, he let go of her arm and stood up. "There's a bathroom through there," He pointed to a door in the corner opposite them, by the queen-sized four poster bed, "and clothes in there." He said as he pointed to a large, mahogany wardrobe with a couple of drawers at the bottom of it, which was sitting by the door they came through. On that last note, he spun round with his long, black cape whirling round after him. The door swung shut after him, leaving Hermione alone.

Hermione stood up and looked around, taking in her new surroundings. The bed had a canopy with velvety green drapes hanging off it. The bed itself was covered with black silk blankets with trimmings of silver.

"Like black, green and silver, don't they?" Hermione muttered to herself. The wall opposite the door she had come through had two tall, slim windows with green curtains hanging on either side. Hermione went to shut the curtains. She wasn't in the mood to see the nice weather. The second she closed them a couple of dozen lit black candles popped into the room and hovered by the ceiling. Against the wall opposite the bed was an enormous mahogany desk. It had a wide variety of quills and parchment on it. It was an extravagant room and Hermione couldn't understand why she was in it. Shouldn't she be in the dungeons, being tortured until Voldemort arrived?

Hermione climbed on to the bed and kicked off her shoes. She may as well make herself at home because she wasn't going anywhere.

Meanwhile, Lucius was in his study, sitting at his desk. Why had he shown compassion to a filthy mudblood? Usually he would have left her to suffer with her broken arm for a day or two, maybe even a week. He couldn't bear to do it this time. Something in her eyes jolted him and for the first time in years, he felt his heart flutter. Narcissa had never been able to do that to him. He didn't even miss her. Draco has missed her terribly when she had been killed last year but it had made the boy tough, which pleased his master.

Lucius spun his chair around so that he was facing the painting of himself behind the desk.

"Go to her. Tell me everything that she does and says. Come back when she is asleep." Lucius the painting nodded and left his frame. He wanted to know what made the mudblood tick.


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:**I will never ever own Harry Potter.

**A/N:**Thanks to **bloomsgurl1922** - glad you like the first chapter, **Super** - my ever faithful reader. As soon as this convention is over I will sit and R&R yours and I won't move till I've read everyone....promise, **Wendy** - I agree, tis kinda scary the thought of Lucius with a heart, **Kay** - I didn't think the beginning was that interesting but I'm glad you liked it enough to review anyway, **Jo** - Let's hope that the whole story is good, **Resaispoe** - I know it's a weird angle but I just had to do it, it wouldn't leave me alone, **Kala** - I just got your review when I was writing these thank you's. Glad you think it's original, let's hope I keep it that way. Thanks to my great beta for just being my beta. I'm glad that people to seem to be liking it so far. Not looking forward to my first flame but I'm sure it will come. I've seen other stories with this pairing get completed ripped apart.....so.....feel free to rip apart but try to be gentle please. Enjoy.

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**Chapter Two**

Hermione jumped when the painting said hello. She hadn't noticed the empty frame when she had looked around before. It was hung up above the bed. She positioned herself so that she could see it better. It was a painting of Lucius himself.

"Come to spy on me?" she spat hatefully.

"You should be grateful for my presence, mudblood." He spat back with equal hate.

"I'd rather be tortured." She spun round on the bed, turning her back him.

"Be careful what you wish for." He told her slyly. Hermione sighed and lay down. It was all starting to sink in. A Death Eater was holding her captive and Voldemort was more than likely going to kill her. She'd never see her parents again or Harry and Ron. Tears were escaping from her eyes. She roughly wiped them away and sat up. She looked across at the door leading to the bathroom. Maybe a shower would keep her calm. She could start to feel her body shake from fear.

Hermione came out of the bathroom wearing a dark green towel with her wet hair hanging loosely round her shoulders. She walked straight to the wardrobe to inspect what sort of clothes they had. She was surprised to find a variety of clothes, all for a girl and all her size. She wondered who they had belonged to as she had a look through the drawers. She finally settled on a set of pyjamas which consisted of a pair of silk shorts with a cotton vest top. She knew it would be while before it was time for bed but she wanted to be comfortable.

Hermione dropped the towel and gave out a slight scream when she heard a wolf whistle. Without turning round, she picked the towel back up.

"Go away." She growled to the floor.

"Never." The painting replied. She couldn't see it but she could hear it smile in its comment. Hermione picked up the pyjamas and some underwear which she found in the drawers and stormed back into the bathroom.

It was yet another extravagant room with a black marble, swimming pool sized bath taking up the centre of the room. A shower was in one corner surrounded by glass panels. Behind the door was a mahogany cabinet that was almost as large as the wardrobe in the bedroom. Against one side of the room was a long green marble counter that covered the length of the wall. There was a sink dipping into the middle of it with elaborate gold taps. Underneath were mahogany cupboards with gold snakes as handles.

Hermione walked back into the bedroom fully clothed and dabbing her hair with a towel. She scowled when she saw the painting was still there. Food appeared on the desk as she started to climb on to the bed. She ignored it and got under the covers. She was in no mood for food. She just wanted to be back at Hogwarts, scolding Harry and Ron for not doing their homework.

"Not going to sleep are you?" The painting asked with a sneer. Hermione ignored it, throwing the towel on the floor. She snuggled into the pillows; letting the warmth take over her. That's when the reality of it all truly hit her.

Lucius had been pacing his study when his painting returned.

"Well?" He demanded.

"She's quite a boring mudblood really."

"Get on with it." He snapped.

"Let me see," The painting drawled, "she had a shower, put some pyjamas on to that divine body of hers. Well, from what I saw it was divine, for a mudblood. She ignored the food you sent and then spent the last hour crying till she fell asleep." Lucius smiled and disapperated with a pop. He appeared in Hermione's room at the bottom of the bed. He walked round to the right side of the bed and just simply watched her sleep. It was frustrating him that he had shown kindness to her.

Her damp hair was slightly falling over her face. Ever so gently, he brushed it away. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. What had she done to him to make him feel that flutter? He didn't have feelings for anyone or anything anymore. So how did that one get through? What confused him even more was that he had seen her at least five times before they had kidnapped her and not once had she given him that flutter then.

'Yes but she's now a young lady, not a little girl anymore.' A voice chorused in his mind. His eyes widened at the voice. Where had that come from? Just as Lucius was about to stroke her cheek, his left arm started burning painfully. His master wanted him. Lucius took one last look at her and disapperated.

Hermione suddenly woke up, feeling as though someone had been in the room with her. She looked up at the painting to find an empty frame. She looked around the room but no one was there. Maybe she had just felt the painting leave. She slumped back down on the pillow. She had a feeling of utter despair. She was never going to see any of her loved ones ever again and the chances were that she would be dead by the end of the week.

Hermione wanted to cry but there were no more tears left to cry. She sat up and looked around the room again. She needed something to occupy her. Then she saw them. Three glorious books, sat on top of the wardrobe. She quickly got out of the bed and pulled the chair from the desk to the wardrobe. She stood on the chair but couldn't reach the books. She started to stand on the tips of her toes, stretching as much as her body would allow her. She gasped when she felt her balance fail her and she began to fall.

She tried to grab for anything that would stop her falling but all she got was thin air. Hermione tensed her body, waiting for the connection of her body to the floor and for the pain that would follow. Instead, what she got was a pair of strong arms wrapped round her. She opened her tightly shut eyes to see who had been her hero and found herself looking into a pair of cold, piercing grey eyes. Lucius walked over to the bed with her and dropped her on it like a ton of bricks.

"You really should be more careful, Miss Granger." Lucius looked down at her like filth. Hermione scrabbled to the head of the bed and backed herself up against the wall. All defiance against him had gone now that the reality of who he was had sunk in. She was terrified. Was he going to kill her now? "The Dark Lord would like to see you now." Hermione began to physically shake. She had never seen Voldemort before and from what she had heard off Harry, she was glad she never had. She closed her eyes tightly and began silently praying to herself that it would be quick. She heard six pops come from the bottom of the bed. She opened her eyes to find five masked people stood at the end of her bed, all looking at her. She looked to Lucius and found, who she could only assume to be, Voldemort stood next to him. He was worse than she had imagined him to be.

"Come now, child." Voldemort smiled cruelly at her while he held one pale, spider-like hand towards her. "Give me your hand." Hermione didn't want to but knew that if she didn't then she would be in serious trouble. She shakily placed her small hand in his. His hand felt strong and cold yet was thin enough to feel as though it would break with one good handshake. She moved forward to climb off the bed.

"Lucius, where are your manners? Help the young lady, will you?" Lucius sneered at Hermione as he grabbed her arm and yanked her off the bed. Between the grip Voldemort had on her and the pull of Lucius, she struggled to maintain her balance yet again and fell straight to her knees. She heard vicious laughter as she whimpered at the pain shooting from her knees to her hips.

Voldemort tugged at her hand, signalling that he wanted her up now. Biting down hard on her lip, she forced herself to ignore the pain so that she could stand up. She felt something trickling down her legs. She sneaked a look as Voldemort led her into the middle of the circle that the Death Eaters had formed at the bottom of the bed. She found deep gashes in her knees, from the rough floor, and blood flowing freely from them. Every step was like being stabbed a thousand times. But it wasn't her knees she felt the pain; it was in the centre of each thigh.

Voldemort let go of her hand and circled her like a lion would its prey. Without him holding her hand, Hermione felt her knees begin to shake dangerously at having nothing to help her stand.

"This, my faithful servants, is the key to Potter's downfall." Voldemort smiled dangerously at her. Hermione stood straight with her chin in the air at the mention of Harry. She remembered that no matter how scared he got, he wouldn't show it to his enemies. "She will bring the boy to us." Hermione's front faulted slightly. She would never bring Harry to his death.

"Master" said a deep, shaky voice. The owner of it stepped forward. He was tall and well built. So buff in fact, that you just wouldn't believe he could be scared of anything.

"What is it, Knott?" Voldemort whirled around to face him.

"How will she bring Potter to us?" He quickly stepped back into the circle.

"All in good time." Voldemort smiled. "She must, however, stay in one piece for the plan to work." He was about to leave the circle when he stopped. "_And_ alive." He added as an afterthought. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as a few Death Eaters grumbled in annoyance.

"CRUCIO!" Voldemort shouted. A few Death Eaters ducked in fright but their attention was soon on the girl on the floor screaming. They laughed as she writhed about in agony. Voldemort lifted the curse after a few seconds and walked back over to her. Hermione lay unconscious as he bent down to her. "Just because I said to keep you in tact and alive doesn't mean we won't hurt you." They all snickered as he stood back up without taking his eyes off her. "Lucius, I trust you will guard her well."

"Anything to please you." Lucius bowed his head down.

"Good. The rest of you, come. We have work to do." They all disapperated instantly to who knows where.

Lucius stood watching Hermione for a few moments. He was going to leave her there but something inside of him wouldn't allow him to. Reluctantly he walked over and scooped her up effortlessly. He was surprised to hear her whimper as he lifted her up. He laid her on the bed and looked at her knees. They were a mess and Lucius felt a twinge of guilt for pulling her off the bed the way he did. Where was this guilt coming from? It was infuriating.

"Miss Gr-"He stopped suddenly. It didn't sound right being so formal to her now. "Hermione." He shook her gently as she whimpered again.

"Harry, they're hurting me." She sobbed. Lucius heart skipped a beat. His hand went to his chest as he looked down at himself in disgust but he wasn't sure if the disgust was at feeling guilty for her hurting or for being the one who had caused her pain. He sat down on the bed and gently shook her again. "Harry, don't leave me. I need you more than ever." In a blink of an eye, she sat bolt right up and hugged Lucius. She gripped him with all her might and it took him a couple of minutes to regain his composure.

"Miss Granger, will you control yourself please." It was meant to be said with hate but compassion had snuck into his voice. He should be revolted at a mudblood touching him but he really wasn't. Hermione let go of him like she had been burnt. She scurried away from him to the other side of the bed, ignoring the dull ache all over her body and the searing pain from and around her knees.

"P-please d-d-don't hurt m-m-me." She stuttered, half from fear and half from crying. His heart skipped a beat again. His hand clutched at his chest trying to stop it happening. He surveyed her with his cold eyes, finally letting his eyes settle on her knees.

"You're bleeding, Miss Granger." Lucius told her calmly. She looked down quickly to find blood falling onto the bed and looked back up at him.

"No thanks to you." She said with more sadness than hate. The pain was becoming too much to bear. How many times in twenty four hours would she have to be crippled in pain? She let out a frustrated sigh. Lucius raised an eyebrow but she ignored it and got off the bed before she made more of a mess on it. Her legs gave way instantly. Lucius quickly raced round the bed to help.

'Get a grip man. Why are you falling over yourself to help her? She's a filthy mudblood polluting_ your_ house." Lucius heard a tiny voice in the back of his mind. Hermione could see the inner fight in his eyes. She was so entranced by his eyes that she never noticed him moving towards her again. Snapping out of it, she pushed herself backwards. She didn't need his help; she'd do this on her own. He carried on moving forward causing her to back up fully against the wall. He growled angrily at her.

Hermione closed her eyes and resigned herself to more pain but jumped as she felt him gently scoop her up. She opened her eyes to look at him but he refused to meet her gaze. For the first time ever, she saw not Lucius Malfoy, but a handsome man.


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:**As soon as I do own Harry and company I'll let you all know.

**A/N:**I can't believe how many reviews I've had. I should have done this story sooner. Still no flames in there.....thank god. Thanks to **someonelse, jay, Marashino, Dragonmaster kurai, Tracy3, Kala **- glad you think it's original, and **Supernova - **As soon as I catch up on the sleep I missed out on from this convention I will get to reviewing your stuff....PROMISE:-). I'm glad everyone is liking this story even though it is an unconventional pairing. Please read on. Big thanks to my beta for being my beta.

**Chapter Three**

Hermione mentally slapped herself. How could she think that about a man who was old enough to be her father and thinks nothing more of her than dirt on his shoe? Lucius took her into the bathroom and placed her on the marble side by the sink. She sat there as still as she could, watching him.

He grabbed a towel from the side of the bath while he flicked his wand. She gasped when a small stool appeared under her feet causing her to bend her bloody knees. Another stool of the same height appeared in front of the first one. He placed the towel in the sink and turned the hot tap on. Wringing out the excess water, he sat on the spare stool and with his wand in one hand and the wet towel in the other; he looked up into her watery eyes.

"Ready?" Lucius asked looking back down at her knees that were the size of quaffles. She nodded slowly as he placed the wet towel across her knees causing a fresh wave of tears to sting her eyes. He gently pressed the towel against the cuts. "I need to clean the blood up to see where to heal." He had no idea what made him explain that to her. She nodded her head, causing the tears at the brim of her eyes to fall. One solo tear landed on his hand. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. He stood up, leaving the towels on her knees and putting his wand back in his robes. He placed his hands on her face and gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Stop crying."

"I'm s-sorry." She apologised through sobs.

"What are you apologising for?" He pulled her into a warm embrace. Hermione completely broke down. She couldn't handle it anymore. In less than twenty four hours, she had been kidnapped, tortured, had the Cruciatus curse performed on her for the first time and had been in more pain than the whole of her life put together. To top it all off, Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort's right hand man, was being nice and caring. Was he ill?

Little did she know that he was thinking the same. All the times he had seen her before with Potter and Weasley, he had nothing more than hate for her, a mudblood who was outsmarting his son in school. But now, his heart was pulled at when she looked him in the eye. His stomach had lurched when he saw the mess of her knees; he had caused that. His heart broke when he saw her cry. Why was this happening now and why with her? He had not had any compassion for any one since he was fourteen and had been publicly humiliated by his crush.

Hermione slowly stopped crying as she pulled away from Lucius.

"Feeling better, Miss Granger?" She nodded mutely at him as he held on to her shoulders. She looked into his eyes and there was that pull again. He let go and walked over to the cabinet behind the door. Hermione looked down at her knees as she listened to him move bottles around. She took the towel off and bent forward to examine them. Pain shot up to her hips and she leaned forward but she ignored it to look at the mess. The cuts were quite deep but then the floor was quite rough and there was no rug surrounding the bed.

Lucius walked back over to her with three potion vials. He placed them on the side next to her as she sat back down. Picking up the dark blue one, he looked back up at her.

"This one is to heal your cuts so brace yourself as it will sting." He explained to her in his usual slow drawl. She tensed her body in preparation. The pain wasn't as bad as the Cruciatus curse but it was bad enough to bring yet more tears to her eyes.

"Oh, for crying out loud." She said to no one in particular. "Will these tears never end?" Lucius looked up and caught himself smiling as he continued to rub potion into her cuts. Hermione took in a sharp breath at the feeling of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Had his smile caused that?

"What is it? Have I hurt you again?" Was that concern she saw in his face? She shook her head. Lucius looked back down at her knees to find her cuts were completely healed. He took the wet towel and wiped up all the blood that was left on her legs. He threw the towel in to the sink and walked into the bedroom. Hermione tried to climb down from the side but found pain was still a big problem. There it was again, a sharp stabbing pain in the centre of both thighs. Lucius came back in from the bedroom to find Hermione's face had gone pale and she was clutching her thighs. "What is it?"

"It still hurts here." She pointed to the pain as he sat back down on the stool. He gently felt around her legs, feeling rather awkward as he went along. He took his hands off her legs and took out his wand. He touched each leg with it and muttered an incantation for each one. Hermione let out a breath she had being holding as the pain subsided. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"Broken bones are easy to heal, Miss Granger." Hermione's eyes widened. Her legs had been broken? How on earth had she even managed to walk on them? She looked into Lucius' eyes and chose not to ask those questions. Something in his eyes told her not to. He got up, taking the two stools with him and placed them by the bath. Hermione looked down at the two remaining vials.

"What are these for?" She asked, picking them up. He walked back to her and took the purple one off her.

"This one is a dreamless sleep potion." He placed it back on the side and took the green one off her. "And this one is to ease that dull ache from the Cruciatus curse, which I'm sure you're feeling." He placed that one next to the other vial and turned to face her. Hermione jumped slightly as he placed his hands on her waist. "Ready?" She gave him one nod as he picked her up with such ease and placed her on the floor. She instantly started walking to the bedroom when her feet touched the floor. Lucius followed her in, making sure that she was capable of walking ok after the breaks she had received in her femurs. She smiled as she saw that the bed had been changed into silver silks. She climbed onto the bed as he pulled the covers back for her; she felt like she was three years old again when her mother would put her to bed.

Hermione lay back on the pillows as Lucius pulled the covers over her. He turned to go back into the bathroom but stopped when she grabbed his hand. Instinct made him snatch it away and he actually regretted doing it when he saw her flinch.

"What is it?" He asked coldly.

"Thank you." She said barely more than a whisper as she looked into his eyes. Lucius stalked into the bathroom and leaned over the sink. He felt a rush course through his body. His heart was beating wildly. What was she doing to him? Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the two vials on the side. He walked back into the bedroom to find her with her back to him, singing softly to herself. It wasn't a song he has heard before but it intrigued him.

Lucius coughed slightly after a few moments to let her know he was there. She turned around instantly, shock all over her face.

"Sorry. I sing to myself when I feel upset." Hermione told him softly as she sat up; taking the green vial he was offering her. She drank it in one go and felt a feeling of instant relief wash over her body.

"No need to apologise." He said to her as he gave her the purple vial. She lay down a little, knowing that she probably wouldn't finish the contents of this vial before falling asleep. She felt compelled to smile at him and did. She started to drink the potion and slowly sank down as unconsciousness took over. Lucius grabbed the vial as it started to fall from her hand. Placing the two vials on the bedside cabinet, he knelt down slightly, leaning forward onto the bed, just looking at her. He had a million thoughts running around his head about his out of character behaviour when the worst one of all went through his head. He had an irresistible urge to kiss her. He tried to force himself to leave her bedside but couldn't. Instead, he found himself leaning forward, wanting to kiss her. His lips finally met hers and he felt a warmth he never knew wash over him. He pulled back quickly and raced out of the room. Whipping his wand out of his robe pocket, he tapped the door three times as it shut behind him and then sank to his knees. What was happening to him?


	4. Chapter Four

**Discalimer: **That's it, I give in......I'm Ms. Rowling herself.......NOT.

**A/N: Jay - **Don't worry about your review......it's better than no review.** MiSSxMELON - **Thanks for your reviews. Bless you for nearly crying....big hugs to you and read this chapter.....I got Draco in there. Harry and Ron are staying out of this, as far as their POV goes.I want it to be about Hermione and Lucius' POV's. But feel free to give me any more advice, I appreciate it.** Christina - **See, still updating. :-).** midniteblusoccer - **Happy to see you like it and find it beautiful and not weird.** Isis3110 - **It really is a wrong pairing but I'm glad you feel it works. Thanks for the review.My god, I can't believe this story has gotten this far with no flames.....not that I'm complaining. Glad everyone is liking it and I hope this chapter is enjoyed by you all.

**Chapter Four**

Hermione woke up feeling refreshed. The warm sunlight filtering through the window had woken her up. She looked around the room and the memories of the previous night came flooding back. For a split second, as she had woken up, she had forgotten everything that had happened.

Hermione sat up in the bed and took a good look around as the familiar feeling of panic began to engulf her again.

Her eyes settled on the curtains. Who had opened those? She shook her head. How could she be thinking about such a minor thing at a time like this?

She got out of the bed and began pacing wildly around the room. She shook her hands in a desperate attempt to stop the panic but it was useless. What she needed was something to occupy her. She remembered the books. But when she looked up to the top of the wardrobe, she found they had gone. What was going on with this room? Curtains open, books gone. She scoured the room for them but they were definitely gone.

Hermione stopped what she was doing and took ten deep breaths. She hadn't been awake for more than ten minutes and already she was starting to hyperventilate.

"What did you stop for?" A slow, drawling voice asked. A scream escaped her mouth as she spun round to face the voice. She found the painting of Lucius smiling at her. "Please, carry on. I've not seen anyone panic like that in a while." Hermione scowled at it. "Nice legs, for a mudblood." She looked down at her pyjamas that she had on. She dashed to the wardrobe and grabbed the first sensible items of clothing she could find.

"SPOIL SPORT!" He shouted after her as she slammed the bathroom door after her.

Lucius was sat at his desk, reading the paper, or at least trying to read it. He had read the same sentence six times. His concentration was failing him terribly this morning.

"The mudblood is awake and has already worked herself into a mess." He heard his portrait inform him from behind.

"Has she been up long?" He asked as he slowly closed the newspaper.

"About fifteen minutes." He told him in a sigh, almost as though he was bored with this game.

"Has she said anything?"

"Nope, unless growling has become a word." Lucius' head lifted up and he turned around in his chair to see his portrait.

"What've you been saying now?"

A smirk played across the portrait's lips. Lucius shook his head at its cockiness.

"I simply told her she had nice legs. Is that so wrong?" He was trying to look innocent but the smile was giving him away.

"You can't possibly be my portrait. I have never been as lewd as you." Lucius sighed. He was going to have to get that artist back. Enough was enough now.

"Come now, you know how it goes. You think it and I speak it." Lucius shook his head again. "You forget, Lucius, an imprint has been left of you in me. So like it or not, what I say, you say. You just don't say anything because you're terrified of the consequences." The portrait puffed his chest out at his little speech.

"What consequences would those be?" Lucius raised his eyebrow, intrigued by what it had to say.

"The consequences of you being rejected and hurt again." Lucius' face froze at how true the painting's words were. "See, imprint right there."

"Yes, well behave around her. I need her to be calm or we will never get to Potter." He had a hint of sadness in his voice at the memories the painting spoke about. "NOLLY!" Lucius suddenly shouted.

In an instant there was a crack and there in front of his desk was a tiny house elf.

"Yes, master." It squeaked. Lucius whirled back round to face his desk.

"Send the girl some food." He ordered without looking at it.

"Yes, master." The elf bowed so low that its nose was scraping the floor as it left.

The day was long and boring for Hermione. Her nerves seemed to settle after she had picked at the food that had been sent to her, but it didn't stop her boredom.

She had paced a little, sat in various places in various positions, picked at the lunch sent to her, and had a heated argument with the painting about him staying. Hermione won the argument when she closed the drapes around the bed, so that he could no longer see out into the room. He had shouted out to her for while but he gave up after twenty minutes.

Eventually, while sat at the desk doodling, she did the only thing that was left to do. She fell asleep with her head rested on one arm.

Lucius on the other hand had had a busy day, yet he wanted it to be over so that he could get home.

His whole day had been spent going between Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and the Ministry. He had come close to being thrown into Azkaban when he had been caught at the Ministry. He had pleaded a convincing case of being under the imperious curse and was put on probation until further notice.

In the meantime, he would have to grovel to as many people as possible to make them believe he was innocent of the whole thing. The Dark Lord was most displeased with him but Lucius didn't care just as long as he stayed out of Azkaban.

He was thankful when his last meeting was over. She had been playing on his mind all day, at the most inconvenient of times. There were 'missing' posters of her everywhere he went. The posters were always smiling and waving at everyone. He found that he would slowly start to stare at one while he was in the middle of a conversation.

Lucius breathed a sigh of relief when he got through the front door of his home. He flung his cloak on the floor and went straight to her room. He knew he shouldn't and that it would be torture, but he couldn't help himself. He had no idea what he was going to use as an excuse for going to her.

He smiled a little when he entered the room and found her sleeping at the desk. Her wild hair was spread around her, half covering her face. The door silently closed behind him as he walked over to her.

"Miss Granger," He shook her roughly, causing her to sit up abruptly. She looked around a little dazed. "It's only five o'clock. What are you doing asleep?" He asked her slowly. She looked him straight in the eye. She recoiled instantly at the coldness in his eyes while he felt the familiar skip of a heartbeat in his chest.

"Maybe if I had something to do then I wouldn't be sleeping." She had meant it to be said in defiance; however, her voice let her down and shook the whole time. She pulled her gaze away from his eyes as they suddenly seemed to be searching hers for something.

"Why are you scared of me? You've never been scared of me before." He questioned. He was confused. She hadn't even been this scared the previous night.

"That's something you'll never know." She told him sadly. '_Or myself for that matter._' She thought to herself as she got up to move away from him.

Hermione jumped a little when he suddenly grabbed the top of her arm. She stared at him in horror, wondering what he was going to do to her.

"Come with me." He commanded. She didn't have much choice in the matter as Lucius was already guiding her firmly out of the room.

She looked left then right while leaving the room. It was the same never ending corridor with many doors that she had seen the day before.

Lucius pulled her to go right and they proceeded to walk past the many doors.

"Does this corridor ever end?" Hermione asked. She couldn't help it, her learning and inquisitive nature had got the better of her.

"It's enchanted to look like this when it feels your presence." He explained to her in his usual slow drawl. She looked up at him in confusion. "It's so you cannot tell where you are." He explained further without looking at her. There was no way he was going to look at her, for he knew that if he did, he would kiss her. The urge was killing him to do it, but it wasn't going to happen. Him kissing her was unthinkable and the night before was a one off.

Lucius suddenly stopped at a door and pushed it open, causing Hermione to bump into him a little from the abrupt halt. She glanced into the room to find it was small with one tiny window. There was a desk in one corner and four large, ceiling-to-floor bookshelves at the far end of the room. Each shelf was packed with thick volumes that Hermione was itching to run over and look at.

He pulled her into the room, only letting go of her arm when the door had swung shut. They stood in silence for a few moments before Hermione spoke up.

"What is this room?" She queried nervously.

"It's Draco's study. You may choose one book to take back with you. This should keep you occupied till the Dark Lord wants you." He directed to her in one tone. She surveyed him with surprise. He turned to leave but Hermione quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. He froze on the spot, peering down at his hand that was being gently held in hers. Realising what she had done, she just as quickly let go.

"Why are you being so nice?" She mumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

"You have ten minutes to choose a book, Miss Granger." On the last note, he sped out of the room.

Twenty minutes later they were back in her room. Lucius was about to go when she stopped him for the second time that day.

"Please stay." Hermione begged. His eyebrows rose at the suggestion.

"Why would you want me to stay, Miss Granger?" He asked, clearly bemused. He slowly pivoted back round to face her. She hesitated a little before answering him.

"I'm lonely." She shuffled a little as she informed him.

"I feel touched that you would ask me to keep you company." He had tried to make it sound sarcastic, but there was more sincerity in his comment than he hoped there would be.

"It doesn't matter." She slumped down in one of the chairs by the windows. Lucius watched her for a while, fiddling with the book on her lap, before deciding, for some unknown reason, that he would stay. It was only to be for a few minutes though, he promised himself.

"Are you really that desperate for company that you would ask me to stay? You have only been here a day, Miss Granger." He asked as he sat in the remaining empty chair at the window. Hermione glanced across at him, shocked that he had stayed.

"Yes." She admitted honestly. "I'm always surrounded by people these days and it's hateful when I'm on my own for more than ten minutes." She bowed her head back down, pretending to be interested in the cover of the book. She had no idea why she had told him that. Lucius sneaked a look at her and felt that annoying pull at his heart.

They sat in silence for a while before a thought occurred to Hermione.

"Does Draco know I'm here?"

"No." He snapped without any expression on his face. "And I never intend for him to know."

"Why not?" She pushed, her confidence picking up.

"I don't know if you have noticed, Miss Granger, but my son has this annoying habit of bragging. Gets it off his mother's side. So if Draco knew then there is no doubt that you would have been found by now. He just wouldn't be able to resist getting one over on Potter."

Hermione silently agreed with his explanation.

"Does anyone know I'm missing?"

"Do you really think that an irritating, know-it-all, like yourself, would be able to disappear without a word to anyone and no one notice?" She was staring at him intently now, refusing to break her gaze on him. Lucius, however, just continued to stare straight ahead. "There are 'missing' posters of yourself all over the place, if you must know, and they're every bit as annoying as you."

Hermione felt a relief wash over her heart. People cared enough about her to be searching for her and in such a short period of time as well. She had always worried that she hadn't made an impact on anyone in school and if she did just disappear, then everyone would just see it as a blessing in disguise. Even Harry and Ron. She loved them with all her heart and only nagged at them for their own good. She made a promise to herself there and then, that if she got out of this alive, then she would relax a little and just enjoy life with them.

"Will I leave here alive?" Her voice trembled as she asked the question. Lucius peered across at her only to find that she had tears at her eyes, threatening to spill over.

"I cannot answer that question." He snapped his head back to the front and got up. He stalked across the room towards the door. Before he had reached it, Hermione had jumped in front of him. She grabbed his arm to stop him side stepping her. He halted at her touch, slowly placing his large hand over her dainty one. Hermione flinched at his touch yet didn't move.

"I don't know why I'm not in some dungeon being tortured, but," She turned her hand around so that she was now holding his hand instead of his arm. She looked up to find him staring at her intently, "Thank you."

Hermione let go of his hand and moved around him, towards the chair. She didn't have time to register what was happening as Lucius spun her round and was kissing her with everything he had.


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer:**I can pretend to own Harry but I might get into trouble.

**A/N:**I can't believe the response I'm getting for this story. It's a little wierd that you are all liking it but it's great. It's also completely wrong that I'm writing this pairing but I can't help myself. **Isis3110 -** Have I nearly converted you to this pairing then? **MiSSxMELON - **Hermione doesn't fair to well in this chappie. I thought you were absolutely right and she was having too much of an easy time. **midniteblusoccer - **Tis very kinky.....but you like it. ;-). **Wretched Beauty -** I do try my best when it comes to cliffies, I can't help myself. **Jenni - **You're very welcome for the first four chapters. I'm glad you think the story is great. **Donroth - **You're completely right, Lucius is quite a bit OOC but if he wasn't then I don't think I could write this story. I am trying my absolute best to keep him in character though. You may also stop grovelling at my feet, although it was nice, as here is the next installment. Thanks guys for reviewing. It completely makes my day when I get these reviews and thank god that there are no flames yet but I'm sure it will come at some point in this story. Now I must go as I have no idea what to do for chapter six. Enjoy.

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**Chapter Five**

Hermione hastily pushed Lucius away in disgust.

"What are you doing?" She breathed at him. He stared at her, in horror at what he had done. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing would come out. Without answering her question, he spun on his heel and raced out of the room.

Hermione stood rooted to the spot, still watching the door. She wasn't sure how long she had been stood there before she snapped out of it. She started doing things around the room but not really knowing what she was doing. She closed the curtains on the beautiful sunset, causing two dozen lit candles to appear floating around the room. She opened the drapes around the bed, forgetting the fact that the painting could come back and annoy her. She straightened the already straight quilt. She arranged the parchment, ink wells and quills neatly on the desk.

It wasn't until Hermione picked the book off the floor that had fallen from her lap in the hurry to stop him leaving, that it suddenly dawned on her what had happened. She sunk down into the chair and slowly traced her lips with her fingertips.

Lucius was stalking round his bedroom. What had overcome him? This was completely wrong.

"Why did it feel so right, then?" He whispered to himself as he sat down on one of the steps leading up to his extremely large bed.

Where were these feelings coming from? He hadn't felt like this since he was a boy. Although the exterior showed Lucius as calm and collected, it was a different story inside. There was a mixture of giddiness, passion and fear rolling around together, all of them trying to fight to the surface. There was also another emotion fighting inside of him. He just couldn't work out what it was.

Lucius had never felt like this with Narcissa. Their marriage had been based more on business than pleasure. Of course he had loved her but only as a brother would love his sister. The only thing that he missed about her was how she would listen to his problems at the end of the day. Then she would help him find a solution to them. With Hermione, which he was struggling to fathom, he missed her right now. He missed her sad eyes and she was only a couple of rooms away.

What he was feeling now with Hermione had not once turned up in his twenty years of marriage to Narcissa. What scared him the most out of all this strangeness was that these feelings had just 'happened' in less than forty eight hours.

A wild variety of thoughts and questions started racing through Hermione's mind.

'_Did that really happen? This book looks interesting. Wonder if I can get another one when I've finished reading this one. This is a nice place. Wish I could explore or get a book on it. What made him do it? I hope Harry and Ron don't give up on finding me. It was a nice kiss. I hope I'm not missing too much school work. How am I going to revise without my notes? Wonder if-.........WAIT! IT WAS A NICE KISS! Did I really just think that?'_

Hermione took to pacing the room like a wild animal. Never in a million years did she think that her life could ever go in this direction.

"In a state again I see." The familiar voice drawled out.

"I'm not in the mood for you. Just go away." She told him quietly without looking up at the painting.

"No, that would be too easy for you." She halted to look at him. He was sat in the frame, smirking at her.

"Fine. Stay if you must, I don't care." His smirk widened at the thought that he had won. Hermione grabbed one of the quills off the desk and dipped it in one of the many ink wells. She got on to the bed, crawling over to the painting, careful not to drop ink on the bed. "Now be sure you want to stay." She raised the quill to the painting ready to draw on it.

"You wouldn't dare." He whispered with absolute horror on his face. Hermione made one smooth line on his left cheek. He gasped as he grabbed his cheek. She swiftly made another mark on his other cheek. "Stop it, you insolent little Mudblood!" She then drew one long line across his form.

"Miss Granger, would you care to leave Mr Malfoy's painting alone. I'm sure he will not take kindly to this after the kind hospitality he has shown you." A cold voice spoke behind her. She dropped the quill on the pillow as her hand started to shake. Slowly turning around she saw the form of Voldemort stood at the end of her bed.

"What do you want with me now?" She boldly asked. She was thankful that her voice didn't fail her and stayed steady.

"I thought I explained that to you."

"You can kill me now then. You'll never get Harry though me." She spat at him with intense hate.

"I don't intend to kill you. Not yet anyway." He laughed coldly at her. "Come, we're going to see your very generous host."

"I'd rather not." Hermione sat back on the bed defiantly.

"Do not test me girl." Hermione held his cold stare. She was acting braver than she actually felt. "Have it your way then. _Imperio._" Hermione felt herself floating. She remembered this feeling but she wasn't sure where.

"Come to me." A voice commanded her in the distance. '_Seems reasonable._' She thought to herself and did as she was told. She felt a sharp grip on her arm as she was pulled along. '_This is nice_.'

Before she knew what was happening, Hermione had come back to her senses and was stood in front of Lucius. He was staring down at her with disgust. Those cold eyes were burning into her, making her flinch. She had never seen eyes so cruel, not even in Voldemort's.

"How can I serve you today, master?" Lucius asked as he turned and bowed low to Voldemort.

"Today we start our plan. Bind the girl up." He ordered coldly. Lucius flicked his wand, shooting out snake-like ropes that quickly bound her tight from her shoulders to her ankles. She lost her balance and fell forward onto Lucius. He picked her up and placed her on a table that Voldemort had conjured up. Lucius then proceeded to gag her with a silk scarf. He then moved to stand on a step leading up to his bed.

Hermione's head suddenly felt on fire as she saw hundreds of images flash through her mind. She tried to scream but couldn't. She tried to concentrate on the images to ease the pain but it didn't help, it only made her dizzy. The pain was steadily getting worse while the images sped up. '_Please stop_.' She thought to herself. To her surprise it did.

"What happened, my lord?" She heard Lucius asked. Her vision couldn't quite adjust; she was still reeling from the agony with white spots dancing in front of her eyes.

"Powerful mind this one." She heard Voldemort gasp. "She could be more useful than we thought." The images and pain soon started again, only this time the images were slow enough for her to see. They were her memories. The one she could see now were when she had started to take her first steps. She didn't actually remember doing it at the time but she was seeing it all now. She was slowly walking towards her smiling mum, nervously looking back at her dad, but she got there. The images then skipped forward to her first day at school. She was excited yet nervous, waving to her parents as they left her.

The images then skipped to a few years later. She was being bullied yet again for being smart. '_NO, YOU CAN'T SEE THOSE!_' She practically screamed out in her thoughts. The pain lessened but didn't stop and the images came to a stop. Hermione felt the tears slipping down the sides of her face as she saw the frozen image of two girls pushing her as she tried to ignore them and get into her classroom. She had forgotten about those girls. She had friends now who always stood by her side.

"Maybe we should stop now, my lord. The girl doesn't look like she'll last if we carry on." She heard Lucius suggest, almost plead even. There was a pause before Voldemort replied. The image disappeared but the ache in her head carried on, as did the tears from the memory.

"I'll be back tomorrow. This is going to take a little time but it will be done." She heard him say. She still had dancing spots in her eyes that seemed to be taunting her. She heard a pop, which she assumed to be Voldemort leaving. The ropes around her vanished. Her hands went straight to her head. She rubbed her temples roughly; trying to bury the pain along with those memories she had desperately tried to forget when she started Hogwarts.

Hermione felt herself being lifted and carried to another place. After a few minutes she felt herself being placed on something comfy.

"Had another disagreement with my painting, Miss Granger?" Lucius asked. Was that humour she could hear in his voice? She still couldn't see fully, just shadows, so she could not even see his face to see if there was a smirk on it.

"He was asking for it." She whispered, rolling onto her side. She heard him walk away from her and then come back. She felt him pull her up into a sitting position.

"Drink this." She fumbled for what he was offering her. With his guidance, she drank the bitter potion, feeling the throbbing in her head subside. To her surprise her vision didn't come back to her as the ache left.

"Why can I not see properly?" She demanded more than asked as she lay back down.

"It's a side effect that will disappear in a few hours." He explained to her.

"What did he do to me?" She asked as she felt him pull a sheet over her.

"I think it's best if you don't know for now."

Was that sympathy in his voice now? Hermione was surprised at the different tones she was picking up in his voice now that she couldn't make out his face.

"Go to sleep. You'll have your sight again by the morning."

"Wait. Why did you kiss me before?" She asked quickly, hearing his footsteps come to a stop.

"It was a mistake but I have my reasons and it is best if you don't know them." Hermione didn't argue back as she listened to his retreating footsteps then the door clicking shut behind him.

Hermione started crying softly into her pillow. The memories had left a more painful mark on her soul than the spell on her mind ever could.


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: **Yep, still don't own Harry.

**A/N:** Okay, I'm back to torture you all with this very wrong story. I've been on holiday and had a small bout of writer's block on this story, so I apologise for the delay in updating.** Vlad's Dark Queen -** I try my best with the cliffies and I'm glad you love it. **Super** - The one who always reviews me. I'm not too good with comedy but I had to do something to lighten the story up. **MiSSxMELON - **I'm glad you really liked the last chapter, let's hope you like this one as well. **Donroth -** Another fan of the portrait, he really was a last minute thing on the first chapter. I'm surprised people actually like him. **LycanthropyVamp -** Chances are you won't read this but I'll put you anyway. Was my story really _that_ predictable? I know Lucius is OOC but that was the only way I saw this story. I also don't see the Beauty and the Beast link....can anyone else help me on that one? I'm glad you reviewed as criticism always helps me to improve. **stargazer starluver - **I'm so happy that you think that my story is well written. I'm always too lazy to check properly if things make sense. **SnapeSeraphin - **Here's the next update for you, hope you enjoy it. Everyone else, enjoy and reviews won't go amiss:-)

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**Chapter Six**

It was nearly three weeks ago since Hermione had been kidnapped. For most of that time, she had had her mind viciously probed by Voldemort. She wasn't sure what he was looking for and every time she tried to question his motive, she was severely punished by Lucius. He would hit her with the Cruciatus curse and then roughly pull her up by her hair.

It shocked her the first time he did it, then she saw the cold and hate in his eyes which told her everything. He wanted her gone and that was that. It was certainly a far cry from when he had kissed her.

The invasion of her memories and thoughts was a daily occurrence and it was making her weaker and weaker. The pain was becoming intense, her sight was coming back less quickly each time and to top it all off, Lucius had taken away the medicine cabinet in her bathroom, so she now had to ride the pain out. Into the third week sleep, for her, had disappeared and been replaced with pain.

Hermione had managed a few times to stop Voldemort getting to certain memories, her most painful memories and he knew they were. Once she had thrown him off, her strength would quickly disappear and he would try harder to get to those memories. They weren't what he needed but it tortured her and that was all that mattered to him.

After each session, Lucius would force her to walk and hold her aching body up back to her room. If she didn't, then she dearly paid for it. He certainly had a vendetta against her and she couldn't work out what had happened from the kiss, and him taking care of her the way he did, to now.

Hermione rolled over, ignoring the agony searing through her body. Her thoughts were on memories that she had had to relive just a few hours ago. She had gotten top marks in some school work that was quite tough and her teacher had praised her for it. But she paid the price for being smart. She was just thankful that her bullies were in the past and that it didn't stop her wanting to succeed, it made her stronger, especially now that she had friends. She scowled. Where were they now?

Sighing, she rolled back over and climbed off the bed. She counted her usual steps to the bathroom; five steps away from the bed, turn right, three steps forward, open the bathroom door and eleven steps forward, two to the left. That took her to the bath. She had learnt to do this very quickly; otherwise she would never have left the bed.

She turned both taps on and left it to fill while she counted her steps round the bathroom to get two towels and back to the bath. She proceeded to count to three minutes, which was how long it took to fill the bath. A long soak in the bath usually helped to ease the pain and most of the time brought her sight back to a blur.

She let the water soothe her body as she sank in. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts take over. She would think back on stuff she did with Harry and Ron; it helped her to forget everything that was happening for a little while.

Hermione jumped when she felt herself nodding off. Knowing that sleep didn't come that often, she climbed out of the bath, wrapping her self and her hair in the towels, and counted her steps to the wardrobe to get the comfiest pyjamas she had discovered in the wardrobe a week ago.

She fumbled her way into bed and before she knew it, sleep had finally taken over.

A few hours later, Lucius was sat in his study, doing his usual morning routine of reading the paper. He threw it across the room in anger; most of the articles were about Hermione's disappearance. Why they couldn't just assume she was dead and move on was beyond his belief.

Since Voldemort had started his plan, Lucius had decided it was time he stopped being civil to her. She was causing him to feel and that wasn't allowed; he wouldn't allow it. He couldn't afford for him to feel, it would ruin his master's plans. He knew that if he continued down the path he was going, he would feel guilty about what they were doing and stop keeping track of what he was saying to people, which then meant they might find her.

He had even taken to punishing her constantly and being the usual monster he is but it wasn't easy. His plan was that if he hurt her all the time, it would push him away from her, change the fluttering into pure excitement at seeing her in pain. It didn't work.

He sighed in annoyance. He didn't know what her power was over him but the more he hurt her, the more it hurt him. Not just his heart but his soul. He didn't even know he had a soul, he was sure he had sent that packing a long time ago. He knew it was just her doing this to him, as he had taken part in some muggle torture a couple of times recently and he didn't feel one bit of pain about it; not even a trace of guilt.

So many times he had wanted to go take care of her; give her the medicine cabinet back. Anything that would stop the pain he was feeling, and her suffering but he always managed to stop himself. If he allowed himself to do that then it would be downhill from there onwards and Voldemort's plan would be down the drain. His heart ached every time the portrait came back from her room to smugly tell him that she suffering that little bit more.

He needed to do something with himself. The question was, which direction should he go in?

Hermione woke up to find her sight was back. It wasn't one hundred per cent, it was enough for her to make out the shape of objects and move around without counting her steps. She was food and water on the desk which she was grateful for, it was the one thing that was always consistent, three times a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food she would rarely touch as her appetite had decreased greatly and it showed. She was thinning at an alarming rate. Sometimes she would force herself to eat something, just to keep her strength up.

After drinking three glasses of water and a few minutes of picking her food, she burst into tears. She was thinking about her dream. She had been with Harry in an empty, white room. She wasn't sure where it was but she felt safe there. He had been comforting her, telling her everything was going to be fine. As she had started to wake up and the room slowly disappeared, she could hear Harry shouting to her that they would get her back.

"Are you crying _again_? Where do you get all those tears from?" The portrait startled her. She may not like him but he was the only company she had.

Hermione wiped her eyes and turned herself around on the chair. She could just about make out his blurry form in the frame.

"If you don't like it then leave."

"I might just do that. It's getting dull seeing you whinge all the time."

"Well go then." She urged half-heartedly. She watched the blob move out of the frame. She counted to ten as she walked back over to the bed. As she got on the bed and reached eight, he was back in the frame.

"Now that was sneaky." He said indignantly. Hermione smiled weakly. They may be enemies but they had silently established a game between them over the past couple of weeks. It was how quickly she could get him to leave the frame. There were no prizes just the smugness of winning.

"You were crying on purpose, weren't you?"

"No but you asked for it anyway."

"So what's wrong with the mudblood today?"

"Carry on and I'll give you a pair of glasses today." Hermione had drawn on him a few times before and had gotten into trouble for her insolence but it was nothing compared to the punishment she received for just being her when Voldemort was around. Lucius seemed to hurt her ten times more when his master was in the building.

"You never learn, do you? Besides, you can't see properly today."

"And how do you know that?"

"The look in your eyes. You're trying to focus too much." She smiled at him. "What are you smiling at?"

"Considering you dislike me so much, you're not doing too bad on noticing little things about me that my _best_ friends wouldn't notice in a million years." She explained sadly.

"I'm known for my perceptiveness, I learnt from the best. I've also noticed that your fighting spirit is disappearing the longer you are here." He pointed out to her.

"Yeah and I bet you constantly remind _him_ that. He's probably getting impatient that I haven't stopped fighting completely and dropped dead yet. I'm contaminating his house and no plans are worth that."

"Too right you are."

"Drop dead."

"You wish I would." There was a pregnant pause between them. "See. When you first got her, there was no way you would allow me to have the last word but now you don't care."

"You really want those glasses, don't you?"

"You couldn't do it. You can't see fully."

"Just watch me." The portrait hastily left his frame before Hermione had even attempted to move. She flopped back down on the bed, knowing he wouldn't be back in a while.

Lucius was watching the empty frame when his portrait slipped in.

"She's giving up very quickly. The master will get his deed done soon now that she won't fight as much. Then we can finally get her out of our home." He smugly told Lucius. He frowned. He was meant to be happy about this; instead, what he felt was sheer panic.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer:** I, Shyngr8, do not own Harry Potter and his fellow bookmates....J.K. Rowling has the pleasure of owning them.

**A/N: -** **Allana -** Is this soon enough for you?:-) I'm so pleased that you like it so much. **SnapeSeraphin - **I'm worried now, you're one of the best reviewers I've had on this story and you said that you were glad that Lucius was back to his evil ways....well........I might lose you on this chapter then.....I'm sorry.;-). Also, I have no idea about the dramatic twist, this is probably the first piece of work I have done where I haven't planned it out. But, I will try my best to satisfy the drama queen in you. And your work is wonderful and you have been holding out on me.....it should have been on here sooner.

I'm thinking about cutting this story short and ending it within sayyyy.........aboooouuuut.........five to ten chapters. I've only had one bad review on it but I've been getting told a lot that it is a very wrong story, so now I'm starting to feel guilty. Not only that, Lucius is very OOC. I know I need him to be like that for my story to work, but I have seen other people manage to keep him in character and come up with a decent story. What are your thoughts people? Yay or nay on the cutting short? Okay, I've rambled enough.....enjoy!

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**Chapter Seven**

Lucius lay on his bed with his long hair messily lying across his pillow. He'd left his curtains open so that he could watch the night sky. A million thoughts were whirring round his head.

He eventually got up and put his dressing gown on. He had decided to show Hermione something. He wasn't sure why but he needed to show her this. Maybe it was his conscious finally showing up after his years of abuse towards people he considered lower than him. Or maybe he just needed to do something for her before Voldemort discarded her.

He apparated straight into her room, he wanted to do this quickly. She was talking in her sleep.

"Harry, he's slowly killing me. I don't have long left." She cried into the night. Lucius froze, wanting to hear more from her.

Hermione clung onto Harry with all her might.

"You have to fight it, Hermione." Harry urged.

"Why aren't you coming to get me?"

"Where are you?"

She opened her mouth but no words would come out.

"I'm not allowed to say." A tear slipped down her face.

"Fight it, try harder."

Hermione jumped when she felt herself being shaken awake. Her heart started to ache; ache for her friends, her family and her freedom.

She opened her eyes to find she could see fully now. She felt a hand on hers. She turned her head to find Lucius sat on the edge of her bed. Hermione shot up, snatching her hand back in the process.

"Why can't you just leave me alone? Just for one night."

"Why are you scared, girl?"

Hermione laughed at his question.

"Are you really asking me that?" Lucius sighed as he got off the bed. She shook her head as she fumbled to get out of bed. The candles appeared instantly. Forgetting that she could see now, she still felt her way to the end of the bed, out of habit. He watched in fascination at how she had adapted herself for when she had lost her sight.

"How is your sight?" Lucius had heard from his portrait that her sight stopped coming back as quickly each time Voldemort had paid her a visit. It was a sure sign that her body wasn't coping very well with the powerful, dark magic it was being dealt with.

"You have _no_ right to ask me that." She hissed at him. She stood up straight, letting go of the bed. "You seriously ask me why I'm scared after the way you have treated me. You then act like when you care when I can see clearly in your eyes that you _don't_. So can we just go?" She moved to go to the door. Lucius grabbed her arm.

"Where are you going?" He was puzzled at her assumption that they were actually going somewhere. He knew they were but she didn't.

"Can we just go before I get too used to seeing things sharply or......well, just _seeing_ for that matter." She snapped. He quickly realised what she was talking about.

"The Dark Lord does not require your presence," He drawled. She looked at him, confused. "I do."

Hermione's knees buckled in relief, causing her to fall. Still having a firm grip on her arm, he helped her to stand back up. She was breathing deeply and letting the relief sweep over her body. It was the first time since Voldemort had started his 'torture' that she wouldn't have to go through it again.

Lucius watched her reaction, seeing the relief etched all over her face. He saw the pain she suffered every night from the magic that was being performed on her. He saw her fighting less and less for him to stop. Yet this physical relief he could see from her was more than that. He could see it in her eyes, there was more to this hurt than the physical side.

He let go of her to get a dressing gown out of the wardrobe. He strode back over to her and roughly put it on her. Opening the door, he guided her out into the corridor and she let him.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked as he closed her bedroom door.

"You will see soon enough." He let go her, knowing that she wouldn't run off. Hermione looked at the doors as they walked down the never-ending corridor.

"How do you tell the doors apart?" She quizzed, her inquisitive nature taking over.

"You're a clever witch. Work it out." He smiled without looking at her. She inspected each door as much as she could as they walked along but she really couldn't tell the difference between any of them.

Lucius grabbed her arm as he stopped at one of the doors on his left. She went to inspect it carefully when he suddenly spun her round to face him.

"Do not do anything stupid." He threatened more than warned. Hermione glared at him. He opened the door to reveal a set of stairs going up to another door. He took her hand and led the way up.

Hermione's mouth dropped open when they walked through the door. They had walked straight into a tropical forest with a small waterfall falling into a clear lake. The trees were extremely tall and the branches spread out at the top, blocking most of the night sky. A few black patches with sparkling dots here and there could just about be seen.

"It's only small but I like to come here and clear my head."

"Are we still in your home?" She asked, completely awestruck.

"Yes. That's the beauty of being a wizard." He smirked, reminding her of his cocky son.

Hermione walked over to a large rock at the edge of the lake, wedge between two of the trees. She climbed up on to it and sat down to take a good look at it all.

After a couple of minutes, Lucius climbed up and sat next to her.

"You've got a guilty conscious." She stated.

"What makes you say that, Miss Granger?" He questioned calmly.

"Because your eyes don't have that usual coldness about them. There's something else there."

"How does that give me a guilty conscious?" He looked at her to find her looking him straight in the eye. His heart missed a beat.

"This place means something to you and you brought me of all people here. A mudblood as you like to call me." She looked down at the lake.

"Your point being?" He couldn't take his eyes off her. He wanted to, his heart wouldn't allow it.

"My point being is that I mustn't have very long to live and you know this. Suddenly your conscious has come along and slapped you in the face so you've brought me here. This place being the last nice place I'll see before I'm discarded."

It hurt her to talk about her looming death yet she also felt calm about it. It was like something in the forest had soothed her soul and made her accept it. Lucius was shocked at her accurate analysis of his motives.

"How long do I have left?" She asked, her voice breaking slightly.

"I'm not the one you should be asking that."

She sighed as she pulled her legs up and lent on the tree to her left.

"I want to ask another question, but I can't be sure that you won't punish me."

"Do not give me cause to punish you and I won't." He lazily told her. She took a deep breath.

"What is it he wants from me?"

He looked across at her, confused at why she would think she would get punished for such a question.

"Don't look at me like that," she spat, "I've paid greatly before now for asking that question, the next punishment worse than the last." He met her eyes and they were full of fire. Not as bright as when she had arrived but there none the less. She was right though. He had gotten harsher and harsher yet no matter how much agony she was in, he refused to stop. Even if she passed out from it all, he carried on. He was annoyed with her for daring to even question his master's motives. Now, he realised, it was just a simple question and the punishment was for the wrong reasons.

"He wants Potter." He finally told her.

"I know that, but what exactly does he want from me that will get him Harry?"

"He wants everything that makes you." He kept his eye contact with her while he watched a range of emotions go through them.

"So he needs to go through my worst memories to get that, does he?" There was more hate in her voice than intended. It stunned him to hear the hate.

"He wants it all, Miss Granger."

"What's his plan once he has it all?" She had to use everything in her willpower to keep her voice steady and not cry at remembering the memories he had been making her relive recently.

"I can tell you no more." He finally looked away from her. She manoeuvred herself so that she was facing Lucius with her back against the tree. She looked down at her hands in her lap, her bottom lip wobbled every few seconds.

"It doesn't make a difference if you do tell me. I'm going to be dead soon." He looked back across at her. There was that damn fluttering again.

"Do you want to go back?" He asked her curtly.

"Can I stay a little longer?" She pleaded. Lucius nodded as she looked up at him.

There was a comfortable silence between them while they gazed around at their surroundings. Hermione took off her dressing gown and folded it up in to a make-shift pillow. Lucius watched as she curled herself up into a foetal position and lay her head onto her new pillow, which she had placed next to him. He fought hard against the temptation to stroke her hair and lost his battle.

She jolted when she felt his hand smoothly run along her hair, yet she didn't stop him. It was a comfort to her. Her mother use to do it to calm her down after a nightmare when she was little. The only difference was that this wasn't a parental affection, it was something else.

She watched and listened to the waterfall. She loved the way the ripples from the waterfall went across the lake and then bounced back of the sides. The whole atmosphere washed over her, relaxing her. She sighed, happy at feeling at ease for the first time in nearly a month. Her thoughts suddenly turned to Lucius; her captor.

"Why did you kiss me?" She asked, breaking the tranquil silence.

"I've answered this question before."

"Not truthfully." He remained silent. "You're not going to tell me, are you?" He stopped stroking her hair and in one swift movement, he jumped off the rock, making a soft thud with his bare feet on the earth.

"I think it's time you went back." He instructed her as he straightened out his silk dressing gown. She reluctantly sat up and put her dressing gown back on. She climbed down with his help. He walked away once she was on the ground while she stayed rooted to the spot.

"Why won't you answer my question?" He stopped.

"It is none of your concern." He threw over his shoulder and carried on walking.

"It is when you _kiss_ me." She shouted. He turned round and strode back to her. Hermione shook a little from fear as he stopped right in front of her. She had to put her head right back to see his face.

"Why must you push me?" He snapped.

"Because I can see in your, yet again, cold eyes that there is something more to all of this," She pointed to their surroundings, "than a guilty conscious. Your conscious may have pushed you to bring me here but I can definitely see more."

They glared at each other before Lucius spun on his heel and stormed towards the door. Hermione chased after him, reaching him as he got to the door. She yanked his arm to make him turn back round.

"Tell me." She spat, not letting go of his arm. Her fear had dissipated in her insistence of wanting to know. "I'll be dead soon, anyway. You may as well."

"Why are you so insistent on knowing?" Lucius was itching to tell her everything but his whole being was stopping him. This was unlike him. It was wrong. He shouldn't be feeling anything towards her. In fact he shouldn't be feeling anything, he hadn't for years and he definitely shouldn't be now.

"I'm a know-it-all who wants to know everything." She replied sarcastically. He moved to turn away but she stopped him. She knew she was pushing her luck, she needed to know. "Please." Lucius looked at her face to see the need.

"Are you sure?" She nodded in response. "You may not like the answer."

"Try me." She urged. Lucius brought his hands to her face; gently stroking her cheeks with his thumbs as he slowly bent his head down to hers.

Hermione's eyes widened as she realised what was happening, yet didn't stop him. A warmth flood through him as his lips met hers, the same warmth he felt when he had kissed her for the first time. However, it surprised him when she started to kiss him back.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer:**I could turn blue putting this bloody thing in all the time......I still do not own the boy.

**A/N:**Okay, I'll start with my usual thank yous. **SnapeSeraphin - **I love your reviews. You give me a real confidence boost....it's great. Also, how do you know there isn't much time left? I leave you with that to ponder;-). **MiSSxMELON - **Your back:-) I beg for your forgiveness for even comtemplating cutting this story short. I have also finally taken up your advice. I'm finally going to bring Harry and Ron's view into the story but not just yet. I didn't want to but I thought I should. I'm also going to speed up a bit now...so......watch this space. **Lana - **You could give me a big head with all the praise you are giving me. If my novel ever gets published then I hope I get at least one fan that likes my writing as much as you like this story. I've written a few chapters now so my updates should be quicker. **Poet Diem - **You're another person who could give me a big head....not that I'm complaining;-) It's great to know that people actually like what I write. **shedraconis - **Nothing's perfect, it's the imperfections that make something interesting, but thank you for thinking so. It means a lot to me. **Sorcha - **Your review was lovely and made me feel good about this story. Thank you. **mrs malfoy -** Two words: Thank You. Was this update soon enough for you? **stargazer starluver - **I hope you like the turn of events I have planned. Thank you for your review. **hahaha-evil - **Short and sweet and thanks for putting me on your author alert list.

Right, I'm not going to cut the story short, nearly all of you have asked me not to, so I won't. I also have to say that I had no idea where I was going with the story. It was the first thing I had ever written that I hadn't done a plan for. But I sat down the other day and refused to move till I had one and now I do, so I can safely say that this story will go on for a while. I just hope you all like what I have planned. If not, you can advise me as I go along. I'm rambling now......enjoy!!!

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**Chapter Eight**

They kissed for a few minutes. Lucius still had his hands on her face while Hermione held onto his forearms. Their kiss was forceful yet gentle. Passionate yet comfortable. Rough yet smooth. It was all of their raw emotions of the past month mixed together.

Lucius pulled away to find her eyes still closed. He softly rubbed her cheeks before bringing his arms down. Hermione's hands fell down limply and he caught them with in his own hands.

"Does that answer your question?" He asked in his usual drawl. Her eyes fluttered open while she nodded. She had felt him give everything into the kiss. She had kissed Viktor but his kisses seemed so meaningless now compared to this one. This one seemed to have his whole heart in it.

"My turn now. Why did _you_ kiss _me_?" His smile reached his eyes for the first time in some years.

"Because for the first time ever I felt truly needed. Not wanted but needed. Not even my best friends have really _needed_ me." She answered truthfully, without meeting his gaze.

Lucius couldn't believe how right she was. He did need her. These feelings he had felt right but they should not belong to him. He couldn't remember the last time his heart had actually felt warm. Not even when Draco had been born. Not one ounce of the miracle of birth had reached his heart. Of course he had been proud to have a son and an heir to carry on the family name but it didn't warm him the way her kiss had just done. He wasn't sure what he was going to do when she had gone. '_But did she have to go?_' He frowned at that sudden thought. Of course she had to go. '_Not really._' His thoughts betrayed him again.

"Won't Voldemort see all of this when he comes back?" Hermione asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"No. This memory is too soon for him to look this close. He only wants up until the moment we.......well, I'm sure you know."

"What about reading your thoughts?"

"He can't do that either. It can be a powerful thing to keep your mind clear." Hermione slowly lifted her head to look into his eyes.

"Occlumency." She muttered.

"Indeed."

"I should probably go back now." She half suggested to him.

"Yes, you're right." Lucius silently led her by the hand back down the stairs, through the corridor and to her room.

Both had given up on trying to make sense of what had happened. Their thoughts were one big, jumbled up, mess and refused to go into some sort of reasonable order.

Lucius wanted to kiss her again and hold her. On the other hand he wanted her gone so that he could return to normal. Hermione wasn't sure if she was worried that he would stay when they got to her room, or worried that he would go and leave her on her own. She used to love being on her own but not now. Now she wanted to have any company, even a Malfoy's.

He opened her bedroom door for her. She glanced at him before she let go of his hand and walked into the room. As she turned back round, she bumped right into him. He bent down to give her a slow lingering kiss. She was still trying to catch her breath as he left the room, instructing her to get some sleep. She watched the door for some time before her stupor was interrupted by the one and only portrait.

"And where have you been, dirtbag?"

"Are you really interested, scumball?" She took her dressing gown off while walking over to the bed, letting it fall to the floor.

"Not really," He drawled in a bored manner, "but I was disappointed to find I wasn't going to get my nightly dosage of mudblood ramblings. They're quite addictive."

"What do you mean?" She climbed on to the bed, pulling the blankets over her."

"Didn't you know? You talk in your sleep."

"I'm not the first to do that, you know." She lay down on to the pillow and looked at an upside down version of the portrait.

"I_ know_ that. You're the only one I've seen do it." He explained indignantly.

She shook her head as she rolled onto her side. The floating candles disappeared, plunging the room into darkness.

She was ready to think back on the nights events, and reflect on them, however, sleep wouldn't allow her to. She wasn't about to fight it either as it rarely came to her these days.

Lucius was sat on the edge of his bed, wondering if he had done the right thing by letting her in. It showed her that he did have a weakness and he couldn't afford for his enemies to get wind of that. He had stopped himself having any weaknesses since he was in Hogwarts. He had never known such pain as he did then. Not even the Cruciatus could compare.

There had been a girl in when he was in his fourth year. She was like an angel to him. She was in the year below him; he couldn't understand why he had never seen her before. It didn't matter though, because he had definitely noticed her now. She had been a little smaller than him in height and had a dainty build. She had silky, long, mousey brown hair. Her eyes were a sparkling blue-green colour. He loved it when she laughed because her eyes would dance and make everything that was wrong in the world seem silly. She had pale freckles that were dotted across her cheeks and button nose. Her smile was mesmerising and without fail, his knees would buckle a little when she smiled. Her name was Nerissa.

He had showered the girl with gifts from afar. She never knew who these gifts were from, but it pleased him so much when she was happy about each gift he had sent her. He would watch her on the Ravenclaw table from the Slytherin table as she opened each one and showed the latest gift to her best friend. Of course he never let anyone know about his crush, he would be ridiculed. It didn't bode well for a Slytherin to like anyone outside of their house.

He eventually built up the courage to tell her his feelings. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and he practiced his speech to her over and over. He waited outside the Three Broomsticks, knowing that she would go there for a drink. When she finally made it to the pub, he called out to her.

He frowned when he saw fear flicker across her eyes. But then what did he expect? A Slytherin never wanted to be nice to anyone outside of its house so why should he break tradition. She told her friends to go on and walked to the opposite side of the street with him.

He took one deep breath and told her all at once his speech. She didn't catch a word of it and asked him to repeat it slowly. This time he made sure he enunciated his words carefully.

When he finished, he looked at her expectantly. She was silent for a few minutes, he wished she had just stayed silent now and walked away. She didn't, though. She crushed his heart like a ton of bricks.

Had two of his professors not been walking down the street, he would have beaten her there and then. Everything he had felt for her had disappeared and been replaced by excruciating heartache and hate. She had snapped the necklace off that she had been wearing and threw it at him. It had been the one he sent her at Christmas. He stared in disbelief as she walked over to the pub.

Of course, the girl was dead now. Lucius had become a death eater two years after graduating from Hogwarts. He was married to Narcissa who was a good wife.

He made sure the girl paid dearly. She had apologised and begged for her life as he tortured her, but he wasn't going to stop. She should have thought of that when she was thirteen.

After hours of torture, he finally killed her. He watched from down the street as her husband walked into the house, he listened to the man's shouts and watched him come running out in tears. Lucius smiled and disapperated back to his faithful wife.

He remembered thanking her for making him realise that love only got in the way of things and that it was a silly emotion. He had never loved since and he had been better for it. It made him who he was today; a strong and powerful wizard.

He took the goblet that was on his bedside table and threw it across the room, causing it to smash against the wall. He was at a loss. Was he taking himself back to square one by falling for Hermione? She could easily crush his heart, just like Nerissa had done. But would he be able to protect it this time if she did. His choice was either take the risk for this girl who was young enough to be his daughter and on the wrong side of the war, or be done with her now and persuade the Dark Lord that he could get Potter with everything he has now.

He stood up and went over to his window. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of the window and stared at nothing in particular. How could he have let this happen? He growled as he pulled his arms back and slammed his fists into the wall. What was he going to do now?


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer: **Nope, no luck in purchasing the wonder boy, so that would still make him belong to JK Rowling. His friends too, they still belong to her.

**A/N: **I was going to hold onto this chapter for a while, make you sweat for it but I'm not mean like that. So I thought 'It's typed up, on the laptop ready to go, I may as well put it on now.' Now for my thank yous. **Super - **I'm glad you like how I portrayed Lucius in the last chapter. It's just something that I thought about when I was wondering about all the characters backgrounds. **Stargazer Starluver - **Glad you like Lucius and HOT.....really? **SnapeSeraphin - **You know what's funny, I had wrote chapters 7 and 8 together and I didn't have a plan then. The only thing that was written in after the plan was Lucius' past with Nerissa. But I'm really happy that you thought the last chapter was better because I hated it. I thought it was lacking something. BTW, I hope you're studying hard and not spending all your time reading Fan Fic.(Told you I'd pester you from now on);-). **MiSSxMELON - **I picked the name Nerissa randomly out of a baby's name book. I thought it sounded soft and gentle, like the girl I was imagining. It never occured to me how much it sounded like Narcissa. I'm ecstatic that you enjoyed that little story about Nerissa though, I added it at the last minute. I originally wanted it later on.

Now, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it took me a while to finally accept what I had done with it. Any advice or problems with it then don't hesitate to tell me.

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**Chapter Nine**

Hermione had another dream about Harry. It confused her. Out of her two best friends, she thought she would have dreamt about Ron, not Harry. She didn't know why she thought that, she just did.

They had been in that room she felt safe in. She wished she knew where it was. She _must_ have seen it before for her to dream about it.

"Where did you go?" Harry asked, clearly worried.

"I was taken to this beautiful rainforest." She informed him dreamily, thinking back to the tranquil place.

"Where is it?"

"It's in-" Hermione found she couldn't finish her sentence. Not because she didn't want to, it was because she couldn't. It was like someone was putting there hand over her mouth the minute she went to tell him where she was.

"What is it?"

"He's stopping me from telling you."

Harry looked puzzled for a few minutes, and then his face suddenly brightened up.

"I have an idea."

She never got to hear is idea as she had woken up. She turned over to find the curtains were open. It was a miserable day. Rain was hammering against the window, while the bushes that covered the bottom half of the window were being blown viciously from side to side.

She reluctantly got up and got dressed. She looked down at her clothes, it still surprised her how well they fit, they had definitely guessed well on her size. It was funny, why had Lucius bothered to show her this sort of hospitality? Why had Voldemort allowed it? She frowned, she had never thought about it before, these clothes and this room were almost showing Lucius Malfoy as being caring. She instantly thought to the previous night but that couldn't have been the cause. These clothes had been here _before_ they had kidnapped her.

She looked around the room, almost as though she was trying to find the answers in there. She blinked as she realised that her sight was back to its usual sharpness. She spotted the parchment and quills on the desk. Pushing her questions to the back of her head, she went to the desk.

Voldemort was sure to be back that night and her sight would disappear again, so she did what she had wanted to do for days. She wrote letters to her friends and parents.

It took her nearly an hour to write them. One was to Harry and one to Ron; to let them know that she couldn't have asked for better friends and that she loved them both. One to her parents; to let them know that she had had a happy childhood and that they had raised her well. They never knew that she had been bullied. She just had to see that proud look they gave her to know that everything would be okay in the end. One was to Dumbledore; to let him know that he was a great man and it wasn't his or anyone else's fault that Voldemort had got her. The last one was to Mrs Weasley; to let her know that she was grateful for all the times she had looked after her and that she loved her like a mother.

She wanted to put in them all where she was. She knew when she eventually asked Lucius to send them for her, he would read them, and then they would never get the letters if she had put it in.

She put each one into its own envelope and sealed them. After she had addressed them, she hid them in one of the clothes drawers. She would ask Lucius when she next saw him if he would send them for her.

Lucius was sat in his study. He hadn't slept at all, his head was pounding and his eyes kept drifting shut. He was a wreck. He had cuts on his knuckles from repeatedly hitting the walls and he had black bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation.

"So where were you last night?" The portrait questioned.

"That has nothing to do with you." Lucius informed him without turning round.

"Don't be a spoilsport." The portrait whined.

"Just go and watch over her." He snapped. The portrait left his frame, grumbling to himself.

Lucius slammed his fist onto the desk in frustration. He flinched at the pain that shot through his hands. Why couldn't he decide which road to take?

He stood up, knocking his chair over, and snatched his wand off the desk. He apparated to the rainforest. He needed time to think so that's exactly what he was going to give himself. His appointments for the day would just have to wait. There was no way he was going to leave his sanctuary until he had come to a decision.

Hermione was sat at the desk, reading the book that she had picked out of Draco's study weeks ago. She had taken this opportunity to read it now as she probably wouldn't have the chance after tonight.

She had laughed when she picked the book up. She wasn't going to live for long yet her learning nature was still pushing its way to the front. She could just imagine Harry and Ron's faces now if they saw her.

She was completely enjoying the book, despite her circumstances. It was about all the different magical breeds and what ages the children came into their magic.

"What are you doing?" A slow drawl came from across the room. Hermione rolled her eyes as she turned herself around on the chair to face him.

"It's none of your business." She snapped at him.

"It is when you're under my roof." He snapped back. Hermione ignored him and turned back to the desk. "Don't turn your back on me, mudblood."

"Go away, scumbag." She sighed.

"No, I will not."

She looked up from the book and saw the quill and inkpot she had used for her letters.

"You sound like a child." She picked them up. "So you know what has to happen now." She got up and walked over to the bed. The portrait's was horrified when he saw what she had in her hands.

"Why must you insist on ruining me?" He asked while he eyed her nervously. She was on the bed now and carefully crawling over to him.

"Why must you insist on annoying me?" She stopped in front of him. Without taking her eyes off him, she dipped the quill into the inkpot. Before she could even raise her hand, he was out of his frame.

Hermione held the inked up quill over the empty canvas and started counting. She got to four when his head was suddenly in the frame. Before he could register what was happening, he had a pair of glasses, a thin moustache and freckles on his nose.

He cursed very loudly while she got off the bed. If only he could get out of the frame.

"Have you learnt your lesson now?" She smirked to herself as she went back to the desk.

"I have no lesson to be taught, but it is quite clear that you haven't learnt yours. Anyway, how did you get to be so quick?"

"You can thank these twins I know. You may have heard of them, they go by the names of Fred and George Weasley." She threw over her shoulder as she sat down.

"Weasley, Weasley," He repeated slowly to himself, "Weasley........I know that name.......why do I kno-....wait a minute.....red heads? There's a whole bunch of them, isn't there? They put shame on all the purebloods and the father is a muggle-loving fool, am I right?"

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" She shouted at the desk. Hermione was shaking from the anger welling up inside of her. She grabbed the sharpest quill she could find. She stalked back to the portrait and hopped onto the bed as though she had been born to jump that high. She pulled her arm back, the portrait covered himself with his arms and she stabbed into the canvas. She pushed the quill in further, making a large whole then started pulling her hand across.

"Never insult my family." She told him with her final wrench to the end of the canvas. She pulled the quill out. He let his arms drop down so that he could survey the damage. She had made a clean rip across the middle of the canvas. She watched him as he kept leaning down into the bottom half of the frame, and then stand back up so that his upper body was in the top half. He looked up to glare at her.

"Only you could call those pathetic excuses for purebloods family." She raised the quill again. "I'm going, but you'll pay for this." He growled, stomping out of the frame.

"Oh well." She said quietly to herself.

It was the late afternoon by the time Lucius emerged from the rainforest. He had lost his temper a few times, along with a few of his trees, in trying to make a decision. It infuriated him that he had been so indecisive, but he finally came to his decision.

There was just one thing he needed to do now; tell Hermione what it was. He couldn't work out for the life of him why he had to do that. He just had to and he would.

Lucius tapped on the door three times with his wand and stormed into her room. He hastily put his wand back into his robe pocket. His heartbeat sped up a little when he saw her reading at the desk.

Hermione looked out of the corner of her eye to see who it was. Her hand went straight to her chest when she felt her heart skip a beat. It wasn't out of fear for what she had done to his portrait, but in excitement at seeing him. That was certainly a new experience for her.

He watched her reaction to his arrival yet she still hadn't looked at him.

"What do you want?" She asked quietly, half knowing the answer. She still had her hand over her heart, willing it to slow down. She needed to be calm, ready to handle her punishment.

"Did I scare you, Miss Granger?" He closed the door behind him and walked over to her.

"No, it was.........nothing." She looked up at him. He ignored the butterflies as he cleared his mind. He couldn't let any emotions escape through on to his face.

She stood up, not wanting him to tower over her too much while he punished her. Not that it would help; she probably would be on the floor within seconds.

"Please, just get it over with." Her voice wobbled. His heart ached for her. He ignored it.

"Fine. I'm here to inform you of something that will affect you." His voice was harsh. She looked down, not wanting him to see her relief. He hadn't spoken to his portrait yet. She fought the urge to look over to the ruined canvas. Then she realised something about his harshness.

"I'm not going to live for much longer, am I?" She stated, rather than asked, still looking down.

"No." He told her coldly. "The sooner you are out of my house and life, the better. You've done nothing but annoy and confuse me and I will not tolerate it any longer. The Dark Lord should be done with you soon and it can't happen quickly enough."

Hermione nodded, understanding what he was saying. She went to the drawers that held her letters in. Now was the time to ask him. She went back to Lucius with them.

He felt a piece of his soul aching as he watched her yet he still refused to change his mind about his decision. He had chosen his side and path in life many years ago. There was no one he was going to change that for.

She fumbled with the letters, wondering if she could trust him enough to do this favour. She understood completely the statement he had just made to her. This was his way of life; the way he had been raised. Who was she to think that he could actually change? She may have felt compassion in his kiss but that didn't mean anything now. It was gone for good.

"Could you do something for me?"

"Why should I?" Hermione jumped at his response. She looked straight into his eyes, hoping against hope that he couldn't see the guilt in them. He still hadn't spotted the canvas.

"Please." She begged. He was going to snap if his heart didn't calm down.

"What is it?"

"Could you send these for me?" He looked down at the letters she was handing him. "I haven't put anything in them about where I am. You can read them if you want, they'll only bore you though." He snatched the letters off her and put them in his inside robe pocket.

"Anything else?" He asked impatiently. Hermione glanced downwards then back up. She bit her lip nervously, and then took a deep breath.

"Could I kiss you?" She asked in a whisper. Lucius' eyebrows went up in shock.

"Why would you want to do that?" He questioned, amusement creeping into his voice.

"Because I felt something in your last kiss and I want to make sure I didn't imagine it."

"And what would that be?"

"I felt love and it made me wonder if you actually know how to love."

"Excuse me?" He was extremely shocked. She may be young but she certainly didn't miss a trick. He couldn't understand how she could feel something like that from him when she didn't know him. She had been right, though; there had been love in that kiss. "Why would I not know how to love?"

"Maybe you do, I don't know. Maybe I didn't imagine it and there is some warmth in that cold heart of yours. Maybe your statement to me just then is your way of trying to control love." He stared at her in amazement. Was he really that transparent? Her confidence was building as she continued. "Or was it really my im-"She was cut off by him pressing his lips against hers. His tongue pushed urgently into her mouth, hers instantly greeting it.

He worked his hands round her waist and pulled her to him, hers explored his body through his clothing. He picked her up and placed her on the desk while they continued to kiss, the passion increasing at an alarming rate.

Lucius pulled away as though he had been burnt, gasping for breath. He turned to leave; however, his passion got the better of him. It was a new experience to have someone want him just as much as he wanted her. This is what should have happened with Nerissa.

He stepped back towards her. She was staring into his eyes the whole time, trying to read him. He kissed her again; roughly and urgently. He leaned against her to push her down onto the desk. He hovered over her with his hands propping him up. Suddenly he stood back up and away from her. Hermione got up off the desk and stood opposite him.

"Is that enough to put your imagination at rest?" He asked spitefully.

"That was more than enough." Her voice was shaking; it wasn't the kiss that had caused it. '_It's now or never._' She thought to herself. She started to lift her right arm up. Lucius' expression changed from cold to horrified and slowly to angry as he watched her movements.

"Very clever, Miss Granger."

Lucius Malfoy had his very own wand pointed at him by Hermione Granger.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer:** Must I really continue with this?...... Oh alright..... I can safely say that I do not own Harry Potter and Co. They belong to JK Rowling.

**A/N:**On with the thank yous. **Super - **You're about to find out what happens with the wand. **hahaha-evil - **Thank you. **SnapeSeraphin - **How goes the coursework? You may read my FanFic and leave glowing reviews whenever you want but only if a good chunk of work is done.;-) Your questions shall now be answered but I'm not sure if I'm happy with what I've done. Read on to find out.:-) **Dragonmaster Kurai - **I went and I updated. Tell me what you think. **Alexia - **My goodness, all these names. Which would you prefer me to call you. Well, I didn't update quickly on this one but I'll explain further down the page. **MiSSxMELON - **I'm glad you thought my last chapter was my best. Took me a while to decide on that ending. However, I'm bothered as this chapter could be my worst. What d'ya think? **Dragonsdaughter1 - **Thank you. I try my very best. **maile - **I hope I don't disappoint on this chapter.

Okay everyone, I'm worried. I believe this could be my worst yet. It's taken me a while to put this up because I'm just not happy with it. It could have gone better but I'm at a loss as to what to do. Now here's where you lot come in. If you have any ideas as to how this chapter could be better then please let me know. I do aim to change this chapter, I just need a little guidance on it, if you wouldn't mind helping a fellow fan ficcer. I would say enjoy but I doubt you will. Let me know.

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**Chapter Ten**

Hermione was shaking but she made sure she kept her arm steady. She couldn't afford for it to shake. They both stared at each other for a few seconds, not daring to move.

"You don't have the power to kill me." He almost sang to her.

"If I killed you then it would make me no better than you." She spat at him. She refused to take her eyes of him. She knew that she would have to do something quickly. She could see him trying to work out a plan in his mind.

"Besides, Miss Granger, you haven't used magic in nearly a month. What makes you think it would be powerful to do anything?" He stepped forward slowly.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" She shouted. His arms snapped to his sides and legs together. He wobbled a little then fell backwards. She watched with relief flooding over her. She, too, thought her magic would fail her. She walked over and looked into his eyes; they were full of anger. "I refuse to let you make me a killer."

Hermione ran over to the door, leaving him to stare in horror. She wouldn't have long to get out; Voldemort was surely going to be there tonight. She pulled at the handle. It didn't open. Her heart was beating so hard that she felt it rock her body with each beat. Then she finally remembered. She tapped the door three times with his wand. It worked.

Her triumph was shortly lived. The corridor was endless with all the doors the same. If a miracle didn't happen about now, she was sure to be dead by the end of the night. She stepped out and the door closed behind her. She looked both ways but didn't know which way to go. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, took a long, deep breath and went left.

She jogged along, trying to find a difference in the doors. She cried in frustration. She wasn't going to make it. Her mind wouldn't slow down enough for her to think of spells to break the charm. All that was left to now was try random doors.

The first door was an elaborate bedroom. The next a dining room with an extremely large dining table. A room with nothing but paintings. A room with just trophy's. A library. Then she came to a door with stairs leading up behind it. The rainforest. She remembered clearly his warning for her not to do anything stupid. There must be a way out in there.

She raced up the stairs and sure enough, there was the beautiful place she had been the previous night. She raced around the edge of the lake. Her eyes scouring for a way out. She went through the trees but it led into a black forest. She was getting a stitch in her side. This was no good. She would only get herself lost. She went back down the stairs. Her hands brushed something rough on the door handle.

Hermione bent down and looked closely at it. She gasped; there was a small engraved picture of a lake and trees on it. That was it. They had the pictures on the handles of what was behind the door.

She ran to the next door; a study. She was running from door to door to no avail. This was infuriating; who needed this many rooms? Finally, after ten minutes of searching, she came to a picture of an entrance that looked similar to the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts. She yanked the door open. Down some marble stairs and there it was. A set of doors had never looked so wonderful to Hermione.

She nearly fell down the stairs running down them. She slipped on the shiny floor as she ran across the hallway. She pulled at the large, heavy oak doors.

"Miss." A shrilly voice shouted. She gasped, not now, she had gotten this far. "Miss, you can not be leaving, miss. Master will be very unhappy." She turned around to see a small, old looking house-elf running to her from the left side of the stairs.

"Just watch me." She turned back round and pulled the doors completely open.

"Please, miss. He will be so angry." He tugged on her hand to make her stop. Hermione shook him off as she ran out. She almost cried when she saw the sight before her.

Her eyes were darting everywhere. This couldn't be happening. There was nothing but green for miles. The Malfoy mansion was in the middle of the countryside. She couldn't see anything but grassy hills. She would never make it to the next town; she'd collapse from exhaustion before she did.

She was pulled out of her daze by the house-elf tugging at her hand. He was trying to pull her back in. She bent down quickly making him quiver in fear.

"Where are we?"

"We's be in the Malfoy mansion, Miss." He shook as he told her.

"I know that, but where exactly is it?" She was totally exasperated now.

"Nolly is not allowed to say, Miss. Please come back inside." He was on the verge of tears. Then something occurred to her.

"Of course." She said to herself. "Floo, why didn't I think of it before?"

The house-elf shrieked when she stood up and ran back in to the entrance hall. There were two doors on either side of the stairs. She couldn't run quick enough to the left door. No luck, it was the kitchens. She raced round the stairs, knocking over the house-elf, and to the right door. A living room with a fireplace at the end of it.

"YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY!" She heard a cold voice shout somewhere above her. The spell had worn off. She half jogged, half ran to the fireplace. Her energy was disappearing quickly.

She searched all around the mantle piece for the Floo powder and it was no where to be found.

"NOLLY! WHERE IS THE GIRL?" He was outside the room now. Then she saw it. A glistening powder inside a tall vase at the side of the fireplace. She grabbed a fistful and stepped into the fireplace. She turned around to find Lucius was coming through the doors. His face was contorted in fury. She hesitated; where could she Floo to?

"HOGSMEADE!" She yelled, not knowing why there. The last thing she saw was Lucius jumping to grab her but too late; she was gone.

She saw fireplace after fireplace whiz past her. She was starting to feel ill from the spinning. Finally her feet landed on something firm. She fell out of the fireplace with a firm thud. She lay there for a while, not daring to move. She couldn't hear anything except for what sounded like a running tap. She pushed herself up, noticing that she still had Lucius' wand in her tight grasp.

Hermione stood up and glanced around. She was in the Three Broomsticks with everyone staring at her; jaws wide open. It was the girl from the posters. They thought they were seeing a ghost. She had been gone so long that they had presumed her dead.

She nervously studied the room. Her whole body was shaking violently. She had done it; she had gotten back. Tears of relief flooded her eyes when she saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape in the corner. They got up so quickly that they knocked their table over and in the process of getting to the girl they knocked people of their chairs.

"Am I really here?" Hermione sobbed as Professor McGonagall knelt before her. There were tears in her teacher's eyes.

"We've been worried sick." She told her. Professor Snape watched the scene before him, not quite sure what to do. Hermione looked up at him.

"Are you angry with me for not handing in my homework?" She asked him in all seriousness. Feeling exhaustion take over her, she collapsed. Snape with his unbelievable quick reflexes caught her and picked her up. "I'm sorry for worrying you." She was sobbing now. She was feeling weaker by the second from all the emotions taking over her.

"Let's get her to Poppy, Severus." McGonagall nudged him for him to start walking.

"I can't go outside. Someone might see me, and then he'll know." She cried pathetically, trying her best to keep her eyes open.

"Miss Granger, nothing will happen to you with us here." Snape told her coldly but it didn't help her.

"Promise me that he won't get me again." Her sobs were subsiding now.

"You're safe, Miss Granger. You can rest assure of that now." McGonagall told her kindly as she helped to guide Snape around the tables and chairs. The whole pub was still completely silently, watching the scene unfold.

"I could have stopped this." Snape growled as they walked out of the door. "The Dark Lord must know the truth about me or I would have been involved on his plan." He looked down at the girl; unconsciousness had taken over her.

As they walked down the High street people were stopping and staring as they saw what exactly Snape was carrying.

"You can't blame yourself for this. You don't even know where she has been yet. We do not know if this is the Dark Lord's doing." She reassured him.

"Or what happened." The thought loomed over them like a thunderstorm. They were not looking forward to hearing her tell them. However, that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered now was that they make their student feel safe again.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter, but I do own a lovely kitten that likes to play with my toes.

**A/N:** Okay, here's the bit where I drone on but first, I must thank you wonderful people who have taken the time to reveiw. **Rebelgal4ever - **Thank you for your imput. I have certainly got something planned using some of it. It was very much appreciated.:-) **Super - **Well, they have the reunion, could have been better but they have it. **Emma Knight - **As a fellow Emma, thank you for reviewing. Now this rocking business, would that me aimed at Hermione or me?;-) **Snapeseraphin - **Thank you for taking the time to email me with your help. I'm glad you like the last chapter, it meant a lot to me that you did. Hope your coursework isn't taking over too much but remember, you must always have it done before fan fiction.;-) **MiSSxMELON - **This chapter doesn't have Lucius in it, but it's coming, I promise. I'm glad you felt like her as that means I'm doing what I set out to acheive. Thank you so much for the compliment, it meant a lot, well when doesn't a compliment mean a lot. **stargazer starluver - **Did you finally manage to read chapter ten? Coz you reviewed on nine and I know sometimes when you get an alert that you aren't always able to read the new chapter straight away. **Dragonmaster Kurai - **How long did you chant UPDATE? Well, here it is. **maile - **You really think the last one was awesome? Thank you. **confused 1** **- **I hope you continue to like it. **SerpentClara - **Thank you for taking the time to give me so much advice, let alone actually reading my little ol' fan fic. I have certainly taken it all into consideration. Some of the stuff you said I already have planned, and some I have definitely decided to now use. I will definitely read your fan fic very soon. I promise.:-) **Noemy009 - **Unusual name, I like it. Here it is, another chapter. **Dun Hav 1 - **I updated, look, a brand spanking new chapter.** Lexi - **Here it is, I will try to get speedier on my updates, I've just been concentrating on a new novel of mine. Here it is, a new chapter. **Athena Linborn - **I reveal what Voldemort wanted in this chapter. I hope I don't disappoint with it however I can assure that there will be more on that. I'm completely ecstactic that you think this storyline is original, I hate it when I write something and it sounds too familiar.

Well, is it me or are my thank yous getting longer. I seem to be getting more people to thank, not that I'm complaining, it's bloody wonderful. Right, a word of warning on this chapter, I've written it, it's sort of a filler to get me to the next point and it's a completely boring chapter. It just had to be done though. Also, I was too lazy to check any little details in the story and check my spelling and grammar. So feel free to put me in my place for not taking the time to check. Now on with the story. Hopefully you will all enjoy!

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**Chapter Eleven**

The people surrounding Hermione's bed on the hospital wing of Hogwarts could hardly believe she was there. People had been scouring the country for two weeks after she had disappeared. After that, the Ministry called back the aurors from the search. They were lucky to have aurors even searching, let alone for two weeks. The Minister had thought it was a waste of man power just for someone so unimportant to the wizarding community. Dumbledore had done the unthinkable to make him search when he first refused to send aurors out; he went to Rita Skeeter who had the article in the Daily Prophet by the next day. Within the hour aurors were searching.

Of course, after the aurors had been called off the search, the Order continued to look for her. However, they were losing hope of finding her alive, and the search was becoming less important as muggle torture and killings were increasing.

McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin were stood on Hermione's left side, while Harry, Ron, Mrs Weasley, Moody and Tonks were stood on the other side. They watched with sombre faces as Madam Pomfrey examined her. They were pleased to see her but they weren't pleased to see the nasty looking purple bruises that accompanied her arms. That was only the beginning of it. They were on her legs, abdomen and back as well. Madam Pomfrey wasn't helping the group's brewing anger towards Voldemort with her exclamations of disgust.

Dumbledore came sweeping into the wing just as Madam Pomfrey finished her examination. He stood at the end of the bed and looked over Hermione. There was no sparkle in his eyes.

"She's a mess, Albus, and those bruises are only the start of it." Madam Pomfrey told him in a harsh tone.

"I was afraid of that. Would you please tell us what we cannot see, Poppy." She hesitated, looking at the others.

"Them as well?" She asked. Dumbledore nodded. She sighed as she began. "She has bruises under bruises. I certainly do not want to know what they beat her with as this isn't the work of any curses." Mrs Weasley gasped, tears filling up in her eyes. "Her legs and left arm have been broken. They actually mended the breaks but it was bad job at that." Snape's head shot up. "She may not be in pain now but she has been in extreme pain not too long ago."

"How do you know?" Harry asked, trying to prevent himself from crying at the thought of what they had done to her.

"She's tense yet she's unconscious, she should be relaxed and limp but she's not. I've only know this to happen when they have just recently had the Cruciatus performed on them. However, this isn't from the Cruciatus, this is from something else and I don't know what." She almost whispered the last bit.

"She seemed limp enough when I was carrying her." Snape informed her coolly. Madam Pomfrey shook her head at him as though he was an incompetent fool.

"She may appear limp, but look at her hands," All nine pair of eyes looked at Hermione's hands. They were curled into tight fists. "You lift any of her limbs and they don't relax fully at the joints. That's her body's way of trying to overcome the pain she has been in."

"What did they do?" Lupin asked them rhetorically, forcing himself to remain calm.

"There's one more thing." She stepped forward and lifted up Hermione's hair on the left side of her head. Lupin turned away instantly, colourful words could be heard from Moody, and the rest were too shocked to do much apart from stare in disbelief. They were looking at four deep circular cuts that were no where near to forming scabs yet. "It's the same on the other side of her head. The wounds seemed to have been reopened constantly, never giving them a chance to heal. I don't even think she realises she has got them." There was a distinct smashing of glass at the other end of the hospital wing. They all looked to find Lupin had thrown a potion vial at the wall. He spun round in anger towards them.

"WHY DIDN'T WE FIND HER SOONER?" He shouted. "SHE SHOULD _NEVER_ HAVE BEEN TAKEN! WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE AWARE!" He slammed his fist down onto the table that was over the end of the bed, causing Hermione to sit up instantly. Fright and confusion were etched across her face.

"Calm yourself, Remus. Look what you have done." McGonagall scolded him. Hermione looked up at Lupin, she had heard right, Remus Lupin was here. She looked around to find more of her friends and teachers surrounding her bed. Her eyes finally landed on Harry and Ron. Everyone watched in silence as she scurried off the bed and hugged both of her best friends at the same time. She held onto them tightly, never wanting to let go.

"I thought I would never see you all again." She spoke into Harry's shoulder, her voice giving away that she was crying. Mrs Weasley stepped forward and took the girl off the boys; she was reluctant but too weak to fight. She was pulled into a hug by Mrs Weasley, which soon turned into a hug from Tonks. Finally, Madam Pomfrey got her back onto the bed.

"You need treating." She told her over her protests at having to lie down. She rolled on to her right side, feeling vulnerable having to lie down. Harry took hold of her hand to comfort her. After a few moments of silence Hermione finally spoke up.

"Why are you all looking at me like I'm about to break?" She pulled herself up into a sitting position to look at them better, this time ignoring Madam Pomfrey's instructions.

"Hermione, dear, how did you get the cuts on your head?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"What cuts?" She took the potion the medi-witch was urging her to drink. McGonagall watched her in amazement; this girl was showing true Gryffindor strength.

"These." Harry took her hand and gently placed her fingertips on the right side ones. Hermione gingerly moved her fingers over them, the horror evident on her face. 'How exactly had he been getting my memories?' She thought to herself. "Hermione?" She looked at him, realisation dawning on her.

"Voldemort did-"Her head snapped to Ron. "For goodness sake, Ron, will you stop flinching."

"That's my girl." Tonks giggled. Another potion was taken.

"You were saying, Miss Granger." Snape said quite coldly. She turned to look at him, something was different about him, she wasn't sure what though. She looked forward to find her headmaster at the end of the bed looking very sad.

"It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have gone on my own." He merely nodded with a hint of sparkle coming into his eyes. McGonagall was almost on the verge of tears at how quickly the girl had turned into a young lady. It had been too quickly thanks to what had happened. "Voldemort did this." She kept eye contact with Dumbledore as she said it. "He was going through my memories. He told me that he wanted everything that was me. It was going to help him get Harry."

"Of course, the wounds make sense now." Lupin said aloud almost as though they had all been stupid to not think of it before.

"Remus, will you get a grip. You're acting like a fool." Snape scolded him this time.

"Remus is right, it makes perfect sense," Dumbledore told them calmly, "Miss Granger, could you tell me exactly what would happen when he was looking into your memories?" She nodded.

"He would do it every night. I would be tied up and put on a table. I'm not sure what exactly he did but I would suddenly see memories of mine being played out in front of my eyes. The pain was unbearable. I managed to fight him off a couple of times but it weakened me. When he was finished I wasn't able to see and the pain stayed for hours." Silent tears were now streaming down her face. Harry was firmly holding onto her hand. She felt silly at crying in front of all these people, especially Snape, who was showing no emotion to what she was telling them.

"Memory replication," Remus told them simply, "It is some of the most darkest and dangerous magic to be used. He wasn't looking at her memories; he was taking a copy for himself. Slowly it drains the person's soul. The question now is why would he want your memories, Hermione?"

"I don't know," She was sobbing uncontrollably. She still felt as though she was close to her death. "He just said that I was his link to getting Harry."

"I believe his intentions were to find Harry's weaknesses through you." Dumbledore told them.

"But that doesn't make sense, all that work, just to kill someone who doesn't even half of his power." Ron snapped.

"Lord Voldemort will go to many lengths to see the demise of his enemies, especially when one of them is Harry Potter." Dumbledore was starting to show his age. This was all taking its toll on him. The worry he has had over his students since one had been taken from right under his nose.

"What about these bruises, Hermione, where did those come from?" Harry asked quietly. She looked down at her arm that he was holding up. She had never even noticed the bruises.

"I was beaten for asking questions." She stated as though she was simply telling them what their homework was. She soon realised that it was something horrific that had happened to her when she heard McGonagall gasp. The pain from the beatings was nothing compared to what Voldemort did, so she had never thought of it as being that bad.

"What did he beat you with?" Madam Pomfrey asked, pushing another potion into her hands. It suddenly dawned on Hermione that they all thought it was all Voldemort's work, and she wasn't about to correct them. It wasn't that she wanted to protect Lucius; it was the simple fact of the kisses that was stopping her.

"His fists." This time there was a distinct grunt of unrepeatable words coming from Moody. Mrs Weasley hugged Hermione tightly, causing her to spill some of her potion.

"Sorry, dear." She wiped away her tears as she stood back.

"What exactly are all these potions that I'm taking?" Hermione questioned when Madam Pomfrey topped up her potion.

"They're different types of healing potions. One to heal any internal damage, one to heal your bruises quicker and this one is to help your wounds heal a little quicker. I won't heal them myself as we don't know how deep they are. I'll do it when they have scabbed a little." Hermione nodded and took her third potion. She remembered clearly when she had questioned Lucius about the potions he was giving her on that first night. He had been so kind.

"Was you in a lot of pain?" Tonks asked gently, feeling guilty for making her relive her beatings.

"The pain from what Voldemort did was the worst. It was worse than the Cruciatus and I never thought it could be possible. My body felt as though I had fallen from the top of the Astronomy tower and it slowly got worse. My sight stopped coming back after a while because he was doing it that often. The past week I have felt my body shutting down. Even though I'm here, I still feel as though I don't have long left." A few tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Do you think it best if we took her to St. Mungo's, Poppy?" Mrs Weasley asked through tears.

"No." Hermione snapped. "If I go there then I will have to be left alone at some point and I'm not ready. I was so lonely." She was getting hysterical.

"Ssssh." Lupin stepped forward and took her free hand. "We're not going anywhere. One of us will always be with you." He told her soothingly. Madam Pomfrey was ready to object but a hand was placed on her shoulder by Dumbledore.

"I doubt you will be though." She half joked, her panic subsiding, looking at Snape. Ron snorted; Dumbledore chuckled, while the rest tried to hide their smiles from a sneering Snape.

"What makes you think I wouldn't be able to say with you, being an insufferable know-it-all?" He was still sneering as he said it.

"You've just answered your own question, Severus." McGonagall was still trying to stifle her laughter. Dumbledore's eyes were full on sparkling now. This wondrous girl had made a heavy situation become light. She had much healing to do, mentally as well as physically, and she had much more to tell them about where she had been but she hadn't lost her spirit. It had dulled a little, but it hadn't been snuffed out and it gave him tremendous pleasure to see that. They would certainly need more of that in the near future.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Disclaimer:**Nope, still don't own him or his cohorts, JK Rowling has the pleasure of that.

**A/N:**Straight to the thank yous. **MiSSxMELON - **I know what you mean about Hermione's reaction. It's just I was trying to get across how much her friends and family mean to her. I figured that she would be so happy to just be back with them that she would temporarily forget about what happened. But don't worry, it will come back to haunt her. ICE is very good by the way.;-) **CharmedLeoLvr - **Someone after my own heart with that name. I love Leo, I think he's great. Well, here's the update, was thatsoon enough?:-) **Super - **I'm glad you liked the last chapter, it was a difficult one to write. I always struggle to put emotions, and actions with it, on paper. **GeekGoddess1 **- Thank you for your wonderful review. A friend of mine said exactly the same thing about Lucius when I started writing this story. As to his wand, I have a plan for that. **maile - **I'm glad you liked the humour. I fought hard with myself as to whether I should put it in or not. As you can see, myself won. **Angelzeus a.k.a Miss Faloola - **It's about bloody time you reviewed, after all the sneaky previews I've given you. Don't you dare plot, I have plans for this story so you can hold you horses on hurting me if I stop. Huggles for a muggle, Missy Moo. **Padfoot's-Luvr - **Thank you for the review, reviews always cheer me up.

Hope you like this one. This is another one I struggled to write. I also ask for forgiveness in advance if you see any appalling grammar or spelling mistakes, I was too lazy, again, to checkit over.Enjoy.

**Chapter Twelve**

Hermione was jolted from her sleep by screams. She blinked hard to make the dark room come into focus. She turned to her right, where the screams were coming from, and found Harry clutching his head. Pain etched all over his face.

She was out of the bed in a flash. Other figures were climbing out of bed. Harry, Ron, Tonks and Lupin had stayed in the hospital wing with her. Madam Pomfrey hadn't been happy about this arrangement but she could see her patient needed the company.

Hermione took hold of Harry's left hand, which he gripped with all his might. Ignoring the pain in her hand, she bent down to talk in his ear.

"Harry, can you hear me?" The rest were now round the bed, watching in horror. Ron had seen this happen before but it still didn't get any easier seeing his friend in such distress. Tonks and Lupin had never seen it happen and felt completely useless as they watched Harry thrashing his legs in pain.

"He's punishing someone." His voice echoed around the hospital wing. He couldn't tolerate the pain, his head was on fire. He could hear the screams of a man. "He knows you're gone."

'_Lucius,_' Hermione thought, '_He's punishing Lucius._' Her stomach lurched in fear of what was happening to Lucius. Her eyes widened in shock, she was actually caring that he was being hurt, even after everything he had done. She shook her head slightly, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind and concentrated on Harry. She squeezed his hand tightly.

"Harry, listen to me," He screamed as another burst of pain swept through his head from his scar. Madam Pomfrey came running into the hospital wing. "Are you listening?" Harry finally managed to nod, his eyes were tight shut. "He's not here. Don't let him control you like this. You're here with me, Ron, Remus, Tonks and Madam Pomfrey. You're in Hogwarts and he won't come here." '_Come on, Harry._' She urged silently.

"He won't stop." He wailed. Tears were coming through his closed eyelids. He felt sick and was verging on unconsciousness. Madam Pomfrey stepped forward but Lupin stopped her.

"There's nothing we can do, Poppy, except to have a good potion for his headache when it's all over."

"But shouldn't we get Albus. Surely he would be able to stop this." She urged. She had never been unable to treat a patient and she disliked it very much.

"You're right, Albus should know about this. Would you call him, Poppy?" Tonks asked, getting more upset by the second. She nodded and raced back down the wing.

"You need to stop concentrating on him and what he's doing." Hermione scolded in Harry's ear. "If I can fight him off when he was in my mind then you most certainly can." Ron finally picked up on Hermione's plan. He remembered when he had had toothache when he was little and his mum had told him to play a game and it would go away. She had been right, he had stopped thinking about it and it was gone, that was what Hermione was trying to do for Harry. He took Harry's right hand and bent down to his other ear.

"She's right you know, she always is and you don't want to argue with her. You've seen what her temper is like." Sadly this joke was lost in the seriousness of the situation. "Harry, listen to us. You need to block him out."

"Come _on_, Harry. Take control." She urged.

"What she said." Ron added.

"I'm......trying....h-he's......too angry." He said through deep breaths. He could hear him throwing curse after curse. The rage was too much to handle, he had only felt like this once. He had wanted to kill Lestrange for taking away Sirius but he didn't have the power, and he wasn't a killer. The pain suddenly intensified greatly to a point that Harry hadn't thought would be possible. It was never-ending. '_Please stop._' He pleaded within himself.

Dumbledore was now coming down the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey behind him.

"How long has it been happening?" He asked as he reached the bed.

"He's been like this for almost ten minutes, maybe longer." Tonks was verging on hysterics as she told him. Why couldn't she help? This was horrible.

Dumbledore took the place of Ron and looked down thoughtfully at Harry.

'_Tom, stop this._' Dumbledore pushed into Harry's mind. Harry screamed; Voldemort's anger had just doubled.

'_Let me go. Let me go. Let me go._' Harry thought over and over again. He heard a cruel laugh as the man screamed louder. Everything went black for Harry; he didn't feel the burning pain in his scar leave him.

"Poppy, we'll need your best potions please. You know which ones." Dumbledore instructed. Finally, she could help him. The headmaster watch Hermione stand up straight, still holding on to his hand, stroking his hair back. "How are you feeling, Miss Granger?"

"A lot better than Harry at this moment." She didn't even look at him when she spoke, she just watched her friend. How many lives was Voldemort going to ruin?

"Nymphadora, have you calmed yet?" She nodded, ignoring the use of her first name. "I understand that you may have been distressed at seeing this for the first time, but I can assure you that Mr Potter has a strength that I have yet to even see in a fully grown wizard." Hermione smiled at the remark. No matter what, Harry always got through the toughest situations. The toughest had been losing Sirius, but he did it.

Madam Pomfrey came back with two potions; a soothing potion to wash away all his aches and pains and a dreamless potion for after he had spoken with Dumbledore. Ron went to sit back on his bed, not sure what to do now. Lupin watched Hermione, admiring the strength that she was showing. The way Ron and she had tried to help their best friend through the pain; it reminded him of his schooldays. James and Sirius should be here.

"Harry," Hermione gently shook him, "Harry, wake up." His head felt like it had been hit with a thousand bludgers at full speed. His body felt like every bone had been broken. Madam Pomfrey was already pouring the potion into his mouth before he could open his eyes. He felt it wash away the pain instantly. Hermione handed him his glasses as he sat up.

"What happened, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, getting straight to the point.

"He knows Hermione has escaped." She felt that lurch again, hoping Lucius was still alive. No one saw the sadness flicker across her eyes. "He's still angry, I can feel it still. His Death Eater was really paying the price for letting Hermione get away." Harry could still hear the screams, they were bloodcurdling and painful. But who was it he was punishing? If only he could see the face then he could be punished for taking his best friend. Dumbledore didn't push for any more.

"It's best you all get some sleep now. We have a long day tomorrow." He informed them with his usual little chuckle; it was as though someone had told only him a joke.

"How you feeling, Harry?" Ron asked from his bed as he lay down.

"Goodnight and feel free to fight the bedbugs." Dumbledore said to them as he swept out of the hospital wing. Hermione giggled as she climbed back into bed. It was then that she noticed Lupin only had pyjama bottoms on and nothing else. Thankfully no one saw her blush. '_Get a grip, Hermione._' She mentally scolded herself.

"I'm fine now thanks to that potion." Harry told Ron. "I honestly thought the pain was going to kill this time. It gets worse each time." Hermione could definitely understand what Harry meant now.

"We'll get him someday." Ron said defiantly; his fighting spirit lighting up in his eyes. "He'll pay for taking Hermione." She smiled at Ron over Harry, who was now fighting off Madam Pomfrey's fussing. It was almost like she had taken lessons off Mrs Weasley. Lupin made sure that Tonks was fine before getting into his own bed. She had been shaken up from what she had just witnessed. So much so that Lupin wasn't sure who he should have tried to help, Harry or her.

"Take the potion, Potter." The medi-witch growled dangerously.

"But I'm fine honestly. I'll get to sleep by myself." He fought back. Hermione sunk down on to the pillow as she watched the argument with Ron watching on the other side of Harry, trying to stop himself from laughing. She gave up.

"Suit yourself." She huffed as she stormed off. The candles went out as she closed the door behind her. Hermione watched Harry in silence as he lay down.

"Hermione?" Ron whispered.

"What?" She whispered back.

"Who was you-know-who punishing?"

"I can't say." She wasn't ready to tell the whole story yet. She would tell them everything, even about the kisses she had shared with Lucius, but it wasn't going to be in the near future.

"Why not?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Please let me just tell you when I'm ready?" After a few moments of silence Ron finally spoke up.

"How did you escape?"

"Ron, I will tell you all of this when we don't have to whisper." Harry could be heard laughing under his blankets. "What's funny?"

"Nothing." He whispered after he finally had the fit under control. "I just missed you so much."

"Me too." Ron added quickly.

"And we love you more than anything else in the world." Harry continued.

"In the universe." Ron was getting carried away.

"I love you both. I don't what I would have done if we had never become friends." She had tears of happiness in her eyes. Just twenty-four hours ago, she had been at Lucius Malfoy's mansion; another kidnapped victim of Voldemort. She would never have believed this is where she would have been had she thought that far into the future.

"Will you three go to sleep?" Lupin whispered, "You have all tomorrow to talk."

"Sorry." Three voices replied. Hermione lay there wide awake, listening to the different types of breathing from her friends. Her thoughts had worked their way back to Lucius. She hated herself for caring even this much about it him, he didn't deserve it.

Lucius woke up just as it was starting to get light outside. He found himself under the window in the dining room. He could hear the rain beating against the window and the wind whistling through the tiny gap at the bottom. His body was screaming at him not to move.

He slowly but surely forced his body to stand. He was leaning heavily on the windowsill, preparing himself for the arduous task of walking. He went to take a step forward, however his leg had other plans, it was staying put. He tried again and this time stumbled across the small gap between the wall and the dining table, and only just catching his balance with a chair.

How could he have been so foolish and let her escape like that? He had deserved everything he gotten off the Dark Lord. He leant on the back of the chair trying to breath through the pain. His muscles felt like there were on fire. He started walking along the table towards the doors, using each chair as a leaning post.

He only got to the third chair along the, now what seemed to be, mile long table. Damn Narcissa and her need to host dinner parties for people who were beneath him. Well she was gone now so this table could go too.

He spent ten minutes trying to pull the chair out so that he could sit in it. He caught his reflection in the shiny mahogany as he lowered himself on to the chair. He was one big mess. He hadn't realised it, but his left eye was almost swollen shut and a shiny purple. He dried blood running from his nose and bottom lip. His hair was messily coming loose from its black ribbon. His clothes were ripped here and there, and if he wasn't mistaken, he could see dark patches on the black material that used to be his shirt. He gingerly lifted it up and looked down. There were cuts and bruises all over his body. It looked like someone had taken up tap dancing on it.

He growled as he put the material back down. The pain was getting more unbearable by the minute. Well he had to admire the mudblood for her silly braveness. She had taken beatings like that for the better part of her time here and she had never asked for something for the pain. She had just lived through it. He frowned at himself, why was he even thinking about her? She was not his problem anymore.

"Nolly." He croaked. The house-elf appeared with a crack. Before the little being was able to bow, Lucius was already giving him orders to get him potions.

After he had been tended to by his house-elf Lucius got a long, hot shower. He felt like he was trying to wash his thoughts away as well as the dried blood. His mind refused to have its attention on something that wasn't Hermione Granger.

'_She's just a mudblood. Everything you felt wasn't real. She's not good enough for you._' He kept thinking it over and over again. It didn't help as another voice kept shouting back, only louder. '_She's not Nerissa. She kissed you back, that has to mean something._' Lucius was shaking his head as he got out of the shower and dried himself. What was going on with him? Just yesterday he had been ready to let her die without a second thought about it.

He slowly got dressed, his ribs were not happy about being moved about like that. They had been the only broken bones in his body and he left them broken as a reminder to his foolishness. It didn't stop him wishing that he could still see Hermione.

He stormed into his study as best he could without flinching from the pain, and sat down at his desk, snatching the paper up. A picture of Hermione was waving up at him, his heart pulled at him. He read the article:

**Missing Girl Found **

_It was with delight that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts,_

_informed the Ministry of Magic that Hermione Granger had been found in Hogsmeade. A reliable source from the Ministry told us the following: _

'_Miss Granger is safe and well. We have yet to find out where she has been _

_but we fear this may have been the work of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

_She will be questioned when she is ready.' The Headmaster refused – _

Story continued on page ten.

It was then that he realised something. His mansion wasn't swarming with aurors. She hadn't told them. Surely she couldn't have waited to have told Potter what had happened to her?

"I've been told the mudblood escaped." A cold voice stated behind him. "I can't believe I'm the portrait of a fool, and did you _see _what she did to me?"

"At this moment, it is not a concern for me." He replied coolly, staring at her picture. The painting stomped out of the frame in annoyance.

Should he leave the country or should he stay and wait to see if she says anything? He went to grab his wand from its rightful place on the desk; it was gone. How could he have forgotten? She had taken it, after all that was how she escaped. If only he had resisted that damn urge to kiss her, then none of this would have happened. He had made a decision to put a stop to it just minutes before it all went wrong for him.

He needed to see her. Then it hit him, he felt like all the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. How could this have happened? Why her? She was dirt to him. That was it; he was going to see her, even if it meant going back to Azkaban. She had something that belonged to him and he wanted it back.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer:** He's mine, all mine....hehehehehehe.....not really. He's still JK Rowling's.

**A/N: **Thank you to **Lexi, CharmedLeoLvr, Angelzeus, Super, SnapeSeraphin, MiSSxMELON, andstargazer starluver **for reviewing. I would do my usual ramble but I don't have time. I just wanted to get this chapter up quickly.I've been lazy.....AGAIN......I haven't checked my spelling or grammar (I really should be appalled with myself, oh well.). Right, this chapter is a little boring, just Hermione being introduced back into the world of Hogwarts but the juicy stuff is coming back again in the next chapter which I will try to get on here tomorrow.;-). Enjoy.

**Chapter Thirteen**

Hermione was the first one to wake up. She heard a stern voice coming from the entrance.

"No, Miss Granger is not having any visitors yet. Now go to breakfast." Madam Pomfrey slammed the door shut on the last note.

"Who was that?" Hermione asked sitting up.

"Some of your housemates." She informed her as she bustled over to her. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm ok. A little achy and sore but fine really. The feeling of happiness just keeps taking over. I can't believe I'm really here." Madam Pomfrey patted her hand and gave her a quick smile.

"I know you're a Gryffindor, but you don't have to be brave all the time." Hermione smiled.

"I'm not being brave. It's just that only two days ago I was getting use to the fact that I didn't have very long to live. And now I'm not. It's like Christmas has come early for me."

"You certainly are a wonderful girl. No wonder Professor McGonagall is so proud to have you in her house." Hermione blushed at the compliment. "I'll get you some breakfast."

"Actually, I was hoping that I could go down to the Great Hall."

"Don't be silly, that's an absurd idea." Harry immediately sat up after listening to the conversation while pretending to be asleep.

"I'll look after her. I promise." He pleaded. Madam Pomfrey looked from Harry to Hermione.

"Me too." Ron added, slowly crawling off the bed, still half asleep. Hermione gave Madam Pomfrey her best pleading look.

"You may as well let them go, Poppy. They'll never give you any peace if you don't." Lupin was now sitting up, watching the scene with a smile. The three friends nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but you are to come straight back once you have eaten and spoken with your friends." She threw her hands up in the air as Hermione jumped out of bed. "Your clothes are in the cupboard." She stormed back down the hospital wing, mumbling something about Gryffindor bravery.

"So remind me, why do we have to get up so early on a weekend?" Ron asked through a yawn. Hermione threw a pillow at him.

Fifteen minutes later, a very shaky Hermione was walking down the stairs into the Entrance Hall with Ron and Harry.

"Are you sure?" Ron asked for the fifth time as they reached the Great Hall entrance.

"Yes." She took a deep breath and walked in with her head held high. She gave Dumbledore a nervous smile as he gave her a quick wink.

"Should she be here?" McGonagall whispered into his ear.

"This is her way of healing, Minerva. Friends are what will help her, not potions." He chuckled.

Hermione began to get more nervous as the Great Hall became quiet. She suddenly saw two pairs of arms waving at her from the Gryffindor table. It was Lavender and Parvati. Harry put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. As soon as she reached the two girls, they jumped up and pulled her into a hug.

"We're so happy to see you." Parvati squealed as she let her go. Everyone began to talk at once, bringing back the Great Hall's natural noise.

"Really?"

"Of course, silly. We may not be the _best_ of friends but we're still friends and we still care." Lavender assured her. They hugged once more before being shoved out of the way by a beaming Ginny.

"Don't you ever do that again. I thought I would never see you again." She whispered into Hermione's ear. Hugs were soon been given to her like they were about to run out. Nearly everyone (except the Slytherins) from her year wanted to give her a hug and see how she was, then the odd couple from the other years wanted to say hello. She eventually got to eat her breakfast after Ron decided to threaten the next person who wanted to hug her would get a pair of bat ears.

She made it quite clear that she wasn't ready to answer any questions about anything just yet, and her friends firmly respected that. Hermione was ecstatic to be sat there, just eating breakfast with her friends. Everything was fine until he decided to speak to her.

"Did you have a nice holiday, Granger?" Malfoy sneered. She instantly tensed without turning round.

"What's it to you, Malfoy?" Harry spat without looking round to him.

"I was only being polite." His two lapdogs, Crabbe and Goyle, laughed. Hermione slowly turned around to look at him. Her heart raced as she looked into his familiar grey eyes. '_He is not his father._' A little voice shouted in the back of her mind.

"Go away." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Dumbledore leant forward, watching her reaction. It was then that his suspicions had been confirmed right. Sadly, he could not do anything to help her unless she asked.

"What was that, Granger? Not scared are you?" Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville and Dean stood up and moved towards Malfoy. A couple of boys from the Ravenclaw table, who had been listening to the conversation, followed suit. If she hadn't been so terrified, Hermione would have been touched by everyone's actions. The hall's noise slowly dimmed, everyone turning to see what was going on.

"Mr Malfoy, go back to your house table. The rest of you sit down." Hermione looked down the table to see Snape coming towards them from the entrance.

"I just want to welcome Miss Granger back." He sneered.

"Well it will do you well to stay away from Miss Granger." The potions master scowled, coming to a halt in front of Hermione. The hall instantly burst into whispers, was Snape actually protecting a Gryffindor?

"What so sp-"

"Twenty points from Slytherin. Now back to your table." The whispering stopped. Had he just taken points from his _own _house? Malfoy opened his mouth to protest. "Say one more word and its detention with Filch."

Malfoy scowled as he stormed back to his house table with Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione was visibly shaking as she turned back round to the table, avoiding eye contact with Snape. Harry and Ron instantly put arms round her.

"Miss Granger, I will escort you back to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey would like you back now." Having just sat back down, Harry and Ron made to stand up again. "SIT!" He barked at them. Ron was ready to argue but Hermione stopped him.

"It's fine. I'll see you when you've finished breakfast." She told them quietly as she got up. Dumbledore smiled as he watched Snape lead Hermione out of the unusually quiet Great Hall. People were always full of surprises in the most trying of times.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Disclaimer:** Why must you torture me with these things. I do not own Harry Potter and Co. Except Lucius, I just bought him at a hefty price.....only joking, I'm just borrowing him for my story.

**A/N:**Straight to the thank yous. **GeekGoddess1** - A few people have asked for a Hermione and Snape one. Well, I'm not saying a word. You'll just have to see what happens;-). **CharmedLeoLvr **- A shiny new chapter for you. I started writing this story because I couldn't find any decent LM/HG ones. Now I have mine to play with and my good friend SnapeSeraphin is writing a really good one too. Also Grey by Pallas Athena1 is good as well. As for setting their differences aside.....you'll have to keep reading:-) **Ruler-of-Da-World **- I know his feelings happened a little quick at the beginning but I didn't want to drag out the story too much. Glad you still like it though. **maile** - I know what you mean. I have so manystories that I like too but they never seem to update. Don't you worry. I intend to see this story through to the very end. **Grenadine **- Thank you. I always sit here beaming when I get a rare compliment, the hubby then thinks I've lost the plot my grin is that wide. **Lexi **- I updated. I'm hoping to get it to a chapter a day soon. Will they end up together.......I can't say.....you have to read on.

As to the Lupin and Snape actions and reactions....everyone will have to wait and see what happens with that.:-) Hope you enjoy this chapter. And review away...it makes my day.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Hermione had to almost jog to keep up with Snape. Suddenly he took a detour onto the fourth floor. Puzzled at his actions, she came to halt.

"Where are you going?"

"I was wondering if I might speak with you before you go back." He told her, trying to keep the cold out of his voice. She hesitated, not wanting to be alone with him. "Miss Granger, I am not going to hurt and I won't keep you long." She realised she was being stupid and followed him. He stopped outside an empty classroom and pointed for her to go in.

She took a seat at a desk in the front while he leant on the desk next to her. He could see her hands shaking as she twisted them together on the desk. He placed one hand over them, to stop her from twisting them so violently, causing her to jump and snatch them away.

"Miss Granger, calm yourself." He instructed losing patience with her. She blushed in embarrassment. She was being silly; this was Snape, a spy for the order. He wasn't going to hurt her.

"I'm sorry. It's just-"

"There is no need to apologise and there is no need to explain yourself." He stared at her coldly. Where was the annoying girl he was use to? How was he meant to take points off Gryffindor when she was such a mess? "I just want to know why you're protecting him." He tried to make his voice a little kinder to keep her calm, but he failed miserably. She frowned as she looked into his eyes.

"Voldemort? How am I protecting him?" She questioned, holding his gaze. His eyes were just as cold and hard as Lucius'.

"No, you know very well who I mean." His impatience was creeping into his voice a little. She looked down, realising that he knew she was purposely keeping his name to herself. Why was she keeping his name? "I can push further if you wish to say nothing." Fear instantly sprang into her heart. She stood up to face him.

"You wouldn't dare." Tears instantly appeared in her eyes. His eyes remained emotionless as he stood to his full height, towering over the quivering girl. "You really are cold and hateful, aren't you?" She snapped. He was actually taken aback by her words. "You're just like him, always playing mind games." Anger was being replaced by hurt and pain. Sobs were taking over her breathing. He stared at her in shock.

She turned to leave but he grabbed her arm to stop her. She felt fear at being grabbed take over her body.

"Let me go, _please_." She pleaded, trying to stop her tears and fear. He grabbed her by both arms and bent down to her.

"Who was he, Hermione?" He asked spitefully, shocking her by using her first name. She stopped trying to pull away from him as a range of emotions flickered through her brown eyes. He unexpectedly let her go as though he had been burnt. "I'm sorry. I should learn to control my anger." She fell to the floor, at hearing his sincerity, as she broke down into a fresh wave of sobs. He caught her before she could completely hit the floor and placing her onto the chair she had been sat on.

"He did that." She finally spoke after a few minutes of trying to control her sobs.

"Did what?" He asked, completely puzzled as to what she was referring to.

"Started being nice to me." He raised an eyebrow at her statement. "The first day I was there, he broke my arm but he healed it straight away. There was guilt in his eyes when he saw me in pain."

"Who is '_he_'?" He pushed, trying to catch her unaware.

"Why do you assume that I am protecting him?" She wiped her away her tears. He stopped leaning over her and leant back onto the desk behind him.

"You would have told us last night who was keeping you if you weren't."

"I don't know why I am. It's just……." She couldn't continue. What would everyone think at knowing that she had kissed Lucius Malfoy? What would they say if they knew that she might actually have feelings for the man who had beaten her endlessly just for being her?

"Go on, Hermione." She snapped out of her daze.

"Why are you suddenly using my first name?" She asked coldly. She wiped away the few stray tears that were now left.

"At this moment in time, it is beyond my comprehension. Maybe it is because unlike popular belief, I do actually care," Her eyes went wide, "But only a little and if you let _anyone_ know, then I'll be sure to let Filch hang you from your thumbnails for a whole day and night." Hermione smiled shyly at how serious he was being about this, but something wasn't right.

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

"Can I be completely honest with you, and you have to promise not to get angry with me?" She was getting some of her confidence back. It wasn't often that she got Snape in a mood like this. In fact, she never got Snape in a mood like this. Maybe something good has come out of her being kidnapped.

"Get on with it." He snapped, slipping into his usual manner. He folded his arms, wondering what she was getting at.

"You can be so spiteful and cruel. You were constantly harsh towards me when all I wanted to do was show you that someone like me could be capable of doing the potions you set." He went to say something. "Don't interrupt me." He raised an eyebrow. Obviously Minerva had been teaching her students more than Transfigurations. "You made me feel like I was worthless and not worthy to be looked at, let alone taught anything. Yet here you are, taking away points from your own house to protect me, calling me by my first name, and trying your very best to talk to me in a civilized manner." He took a breath to say something but he was stumped. How did he respond to that? Then he remembered why he was going to interrupt.

"What do you mean by 'someone like you'?" Sadness flooded her at the memories of her primary school days. She had worked so hard to forget about them; move on. But now they haunted her at her every waking moment, making her fear that Harry and Ron would suddenly realise that she was nothing special and stop being friends with her.

"Nothing." She lied.

"You're not a very good liar." He told her icily. She was acting like the know-it-all he knew but it wasn't the same one. Of course changes were to be expected in her but he couldn't help being curious. After all, he could have stopped this all from happening had he know about it.

"Why do you want to know?" She asked sadly, fiddling with a loose thread on her sleeve. Was she ready to pour her heart out about the whole experience? And was Snape actually going to be the one to hear it all first?

"My main concern is keeping you safe. For me to dothat, I need to know who kept you there. The headmaster might think it best for you to come to us when you are ready,but how am I-"

"He doesn't know about you. He didn't get to those memories." She reassured him without looking up from her thread.

"I'm not worried about that. It's a risk I take everyday." He stated truthfully with no emotions about it. "What troubled me was that I hadn't been trusted enough to be told of his plans. I cannot prevent these things if I'm not trusted."

"How do you expect to be trusted by Voldemort if you put one of his Death Eaters in Azkaban?" He suddenly reached forward and took her fiddling hands into his. She instantly went to snatch them back except he had a firm grip on them. She frowned at him.

"Your constant fiddling was beginning to irritate me." She tried to pull her hands back without any luck. "I am not going to hurt you. I have no hidden agenda. I am not playing mind games with you. Although I seem to behaving in an odd manner to you, this is who I am. Believe it or not, I want to protect you." She searched his eyes for some emotion and found nothing. "You won't find anything there. I've seen too much to let my emotions be on parade all the time." She looked down at their hands in shame. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." She mumbled, glancing back up at him.

"Then tell me who he is?"

"I can't." She whispered. No one was going to understand what had happened. Even she didn't understand it.

"Can't or won't?" He tightened his grip on her hands, causing her to wince. His voice was hard. Maybe toughening up was the way to go.

"Please don't make me. Can't you just let my thoughts be mine?" The tears were coming back. She hated being this tearful. It made her feel weak, like she did before she came to Hogwarts. She refused to make eye contact with him. She just knew he was annoyed and would try to push her further.

"I know you have been through a lot and the magic the Dark Lord did on you must have taken its toll. But that was nothing compared to what he has done in the past." He was talking to her in such a cruel voice now. He knew nothing about her or what she had been through. She yanked her hands back, causing her elbows to collide with the edge of the desk and chair. She whimpered at the pain. Ignoring it, she stood up and side stepped past him.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH!" She yelled when he tried to stop her from leaving. He recoiled back in disbelief. "YOU WEREN'T MADE TO LIVE YOUR WORSE MEMORIES OVER AND OVER AGAIN!" Rage was pumping through her veins. How dare he treat her like that. The pain from her elbows was beginning to make itself known again. She roughly rubbed at them as she carried on. "I MAY NOT HAVE SEEN THE WORST OF WHAT VOLDEMORT CAN DO BUT IT WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH WHAT HE DID TO ME!"

"You're bleeding." He told her calmly, pointing to her elbows. She looked down at her hands to find smears of blood on them.

"More cuts to add to my collection caused again by a Death Eater." She glared at him as she said it. He stood up immediately, anger flashing through his eyes. What had she just said? That was uncalled for. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"Who was he?" He asked through gritted teeth. She didn't answer as she backed up against the teacher's desk behind her. He continued to move forward. Terror started to flood through her body. "Why won't you tell me?" She quickly raced past him and out of the door before he could do anything.

Snape growled in frustration. How could he have scared her like that? That was all she needed. He turned to follow her so that he could apologise. He froze when he saw her backing into the classroom. He couldn't see her face but he could see that she was shaking. The reason why soon followed her into the room. '_So that's him._' Snape thought to himself.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter not mine. Harry Potter be JK Rowling's.

**A/N:**I couldn't resist. I had to update now and stop your wait. Also, I'm feeling very happy as I have just received my 100th review, so you can thank **CharmedLeoLvr **for me updating now. Now for my thank yous. **SnapeSeraphin - **I wonder how revealing this chapter is for you;-) Thank you for reviewing, it's so nice that you do. **mrs malfoy - **Was this soon enough for you?**Padfoot's-Luvr- **I did it, I updated tonight....how's that for trying to please my reviewers.:-)**Davida - **I hope the hanging wasn't too long for you. **Super - **Hope you like this chapter **CharmedLeoLvr - **See, I'm not too cruel, I updated within the day.:-) **maile - **I can't help myself when it comes to cliffhangers....sorry:-) Hope the end of this one isn't too bad for you.

Right, well, not too happy with this chapter. I struggled a little trying to get from A to B but here it is none the less. Let me know what you think....is it a disappointing chapter or do you like it? Hope you enjoy. Also, I've been lazy again in my rush to update and haven't checked over my spelling and grammar. There really is no excuse for it I know but it's so time consuming.;-)

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Hello, Severus." Lucius Malfoy greeted the potions master with a cold smile. '_This isn't happening._' Hermione thought to herself over and over. She was still backing into the classroom.

"Lucius, to what do we owe this pleasure?" Snape asked coldly. '_Let's see how she reacts now._' He maliciously thought to himself. '_Maybe now she won't protect him._' He put himself behind her so that she backed into him. She jumped as he gently placed a hidden hand on the bottom of her back.

"I wanted to pay Miss Granger a visit. After all it has been all of the papers what had happened to this poor girl," He spoke in his usual drawl, his grey eyes were staring straight into hers. "I wanted to be sure that she was fine." '_Please help me._' She pleaded in her mind, hoping that Snape could hear somehow.

"How very kind of you. Where are your manners, Miss Granger?" She whimpered a little as she pushed his hand further into her back. Why didn't she just tell him? Her kidnapper was stood right in front of her and she should be shouting out that he was here.

"I-it was v-very kind of you t-to visit me." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Lucius felt relief fill him up. She hadn't told anyone, but why hadn't she told anyone?

"I was wondering if I could have a word with Miss Granger. Alone." He asked with a smile. Hermione's heart raced. Her palms were starting to sweat and the pain from her elbows was starting to take over her concentration. She felt a sharp jab in her back as something was slipped into her back pocket.

"Of course." He sneered. "It must be a quick word. Madam Pomfrey is expecting her back in the hospital wing." Hermione felt like shouting at him, tell him that is was Lucius who had kept her hostage, and beg him not to leave her alone with him. But her mouth was dry and she felt rooted to the spot. She felt his hand disappear from her lower back as he walked round her and swept out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Lucius turned back to her after watching Snape leave. He wanted nothing more than to touch her, smell her, kiss her, but he had to keep his feelings under control. He needed to remember who she was; a mudblood. His heart ached at seeing how terrified she looked.

Hermione kept her eyes on him as she slowly felt round to her pocket. What had Snape just given her? He took a slow step towards her and finally finding her feet, she took one back. He stopped moving towards her. What had he expected? Did he honestly think she would welcome the sight of him with open arms? She finally found the object; it was a wand. Had Snape worked it out?

"Why are you here?" Her voice was steadier than her nerves. She found, mixed in with her fears, that she was relieved to see him alive. He looked a little stiff but he was fine. '_Why am I feeling like this? I should be wishing him dead, not relieved that he isn't._'

"You have something of mine and I want it back." He told her with a cold smile.

"You were a fool to come here. How did you know I hadn't told anyone?" She now had a firm grip on the wand in her back pocket, trying to not make it look to obvious.

"I certainly paid for my foolishness. If you had told anyone, I wouldn't be here. I would be firmly locked up in Azkaban. And now I want what is mine." She took the wand out of her pocket and brought it round. Only this time she wasn't pointing it at him, she was looking down at it. She remembered now. She had taken his wand. She turned it over in her hands as Lucius watched her. This wasn't her wand and she highly doubted that Snape would just give up his wand.

"Is this yours?" She asked rhetorically. She continued to inspect it, noticing that he was edging towards her now. Did Snape know all along? She suddenly whipped the wand up, pointing it at him. "Why can't you just leave me alone? You have enough money to buy another wand." To her surprise, he had continued to walk towards her, lifting his arm up as he did. Instead of taking the wand, his hand went past it and covered hers.

Hermione flinched at his cold touch. She stared into his eyes to find nothing. They were their normal coldness. He gently pulled her towards him, taking her hand with both of his. Her heart fluttered as she allowed him to pull her towards him.

"Yes, this is my wand," He told her just above a whisper. He took the wand from her and threw it to the floor. "But that wasn't what I have come to claim." He placed her hand on his chest, just above his heart. His cloak beneath her hand felt welcomingly cool against her skin. "At risk of sounding like a lovesick fool, you seem to have taken my heart and that is what I want back. It shouldn't belong to you."

Hermione frowned as she watched him talk. She couldn't be hearing right. Was he saying that he loved her? She felt like being sick. A small part of her felt elated and wanting to return the feelings. Regaining her senses, she finally spoke, taking her hand back in the process.

"I must have misheard or you are under the Imperius. You have no right to say that. You beat me, had me tortured, played mind games with me, held me hostage and wanted me dead." Her face was contorted with fury. This day was getting worse by the second. "Why are you doing this to me? Haven't you had your fun?" She felt upset, no, she was more than upset. She felt like her heart was being torn from everything that was happening and had happened to her. She just wanted everything to go back to normal, and that included Lucius sticking to his cruel remarks about her, instead of declaring that he loved her.

"This isn't my idea of fun and I would love nothing more than for me to have never met you." He told her in a bored manner. "But then you can't help who you love." His heart was aching at not being able to hold her. It was annoying, it proved the he did have feelings and wasn't immune to them.

"Just take your wand and leave." Her nerves had taken over a little as her voice trembled ever so slightly. But there were also hidden feelings that she refused to let surface; she was happy at what he had just told her.

"Will you be telling anyone?" He asked, keeping any emotion from his voice. He felt like he had been kicked in the teeth. It was Nerissa all over again. She looked down at the floor. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. He put a hand under her chin, lifting her face up. "You feel the same, don't you?" She watched his eyes, searching them. He felt a flicker of hope ignite in him. Not that anything could happen between them. She sighed as she nodded, removing his hand from her face. He entwined his fingers with hers as he bent down to kiss her. After a few minutes she pulled away.

"Please just go." She had those never ending tears in her eyes again. He slowly bent down to pick his wand up and placed it into his pocket. She watched with a heavy heart as he took a few steps away from her.

"I'm willing to make you a deal." He said coldly as he turned slightly to look at her. "I'm sure you realise that the Dark Lord will not give up on his plan easily. And you can be sure that I never bargain with anyone." Hermione nodded, not sure what he was proposing to her. "I will try my best to keep him away from you as long as you keep my identity a secret." He took a couple of more steps away from her.

"What about Harry?" She called out to him.

"Potter is of no concern to me. I will only keep him away from you and you only. Is that understood?" He spun round on the last note, his face hardened. She nodded slowly before watching him walk out. She was meant to be happy, she was with her friends, she was back in Hogwarts and she wouldn't be hurt anymore. Yet she felt like she was recovering from the Cruciatus.

"Stop protecting him." A bitter voice told her from the door. She snapped her head up to find Snape standing there. She couldn't find any words to speak. She opened her mouth to say something however words refused to be formed. He came into the room and closed the door behind him. She sat down at a desk, feeling dizzy and confused. He walked over and put his hand on the desk she was at, leaning into her. "I'm sorry for being cruel. I'm sorry for berating you all these years. I'm sorry-"

"Stop….please….just stop." He frowned. He was apologising to her to help her feel more able to tell him and she was throwing it back in his face. This was why he hated the students. Too many bloody emotions racing around in them. She took one deep breath and explained what she was feeling to him. "I am not going to break if you keep being horrible to me. How am I meant to settle back in if you change towards me? I can barely handle it when one Death Eater does but not you. So please, once I'm healed and ready to talk, just treat me how you would. Call me an annoying show off and take points away from me for getting the answers right." He raised an eyebrow. What had just happened in this room?

"Then let me tell the headmaster." He gave her an icy look to try and push her over into talking about it.

"I will tell him myself. Just stop pushing me and making threats that you'll probe my mind." She snapped. He stood up, finally giving in…..for now.

"Very well." He sighed in annoyance but bit his tongue to stop himself from shouting at her. "I must get you back to the hospital wing." She nodded as she stood up.

Hermione hated what was happening. Her heart wanted one thing, her mind wouldn't allow it to happen and her emotions were in one big muddle. She was happy, she was sad, she was confused, she was tired, she was scared, and she was very, very lost. All she wanted to do was cuddle up to her mum and have a good chat.

That was it. She could go home. Surely Dumbledore would allow her to go. She needed to see her parents. Did they even know she had been gone? In all her excitement, she had forgotten to ask about them. How could she have forgotten? That was it; she would ask to go home. Her mum and dad would help her through this.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own a bean, just the clothes on my back.

**A/N:** Here go my thank yous. **Padfoot's-Luvr – **Hope you like this chapter. **Allana – **You really are the sweetest person I know with all your love and affection. It means so much to me. **LinNicole – **I can't help but love the twisted relationship that is Hermione and Lucius either. I can't believe you think I'm doing a fantastic job. Let's just hope this chapter does the story some justice. **CharmedLeoLvr – **I'd slap her too but I have plans for them both. Loving your fan fics by the way. **Super – **I always love getting reviews off you. You've always supported my fan fics, even this one. Thank you. **maile – **Let's hope that I don't disappoint you on this one either. **mrs malfoy – **Special talent? Me? Really? Only my husband and one other person have said that. Thank you. I'm glad you liked that line as well, it took me twenty minutes to word that bit so it sounded just right. **MiSSxMELON – **I know what you mean about Snape. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep him in it for most of it or not. **ICE** was an excellent story btw. I will read the sequel very soon, promise. **Davida – **I bet there is someone out there just waiting to love you. You probably aren't looking hard enough;-). Thank you for your review. **Hotskittles – **I have now updated and looking at the calendar I feel very bad that it was nearly a month since my last update. I wouldn't say I'm a great writer, just about average.:-) **Angelzeus – **Now listen here Miss Faloola, stop plotting against me, we're meant to be on the same side. I'm still undecided on Snape though. Will let you know when I have decided. **SerpentClara – **You make a very valid point and thank you so much for pointing it out to me. I will definitely work that back into the story a.s.a.p. Hope you didn't lose patience in waiting for this update. **Confused 1 – **What can I say, my life just won't let me sit down for two seconds to get this up.;-) **T'Lorie – **Your review completely made my day, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat for half an hour when I got it. And Hermione healing quickly….well….all I can say is, watch this space. Thank you so much for your kind compliments. **eleni rhiannon – **I will most definitely take you up on that idea of bouncing ideas off you. And this nonsense of me being a REAL writer will have to stop right now;-), I can only hope good enough to be a real writer. I will certainly get to read your stuff and that's a promise. **ELIZABETHYOURFAN – **Why thank you very much. **K T – **The person who sent me the email, you know who you are:-). Thank you for taking the time to do that, it was the kick I needed to move quicker on updating.

Well, I can't thank you all enough for actually taking time out of your day to read my measly story. It means the world to me. However, I can safely say that this is not my best or favourite chapter of this fan fic of mine. I've fiddled and fiddled with it but this is the best you are gonna get from me. Hope I don't disappoint you all too much, if I do then don't be afraid to let me know. Try your best to enjoy. Also, could you please excuse any bad spelling or grammar I have left in, I'm just too bloody lazy to sift through it. If I don't update in the next couple of days then have a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Where on _earth_ have you been with the girl? I told you to fetch her nearly an _hour_ ago, Severus." Madam Pomfrey screeched when they entered the hospital wing.

"Miss Granger is still not well. She had to keep sitting down for a little while." Snape told her flatly. Hermione looked at him with a frown. She went to say something but was quickly pulled over to a bed and made to sit on it by the medi-witch. "I'll leave you to it." And with a whirl of his cloak, he had left the hospital wing.

"I just knew you should have stayed here. What was I thinking letting you go?" Hermione listened to her talk to herself. The only thing she could think of was seeing her parents. They would help her to make sense of her feelings and she loved nothing more than to sit and chat with them.

"I'm fine, really, just a little sore, that's all." Hermione told her gently. Madam Pomfrey tutted as she gently lifted the girl's hair to look at the wounds. She was horrified to find that they were not healing. What was she going to do with them? "What is it?" She asked seeing the look on her face.

"Your wounds are not healing and it would be too dangerous to put healing potion on them." Hermione lightly touched her head where they were. She flinched at the pain. How had she not noticed them before? "I'll have to put bandages on them and hope they heal the muggle way and quickly at that." She bustled over to her office just as Harry and Ron came in followed by Dumbledore. She smiled; just the man she wanted to see.

"Miss Granger, how are you feeling today?" The headmaster asked with a chuckle. Harry and Ron jumped on to the bed and sat on either side of her.

"I could be better but I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

"You already have but you may ask one more question." His eyes twinkled playfully at his joke. He clasped his hands together and looked at her more seriously when he saw no smile on her face.

"I was wondering if I could go home to my parents for a few days. I really need to see them." She pleaded to him. He suddenly looked sombre.

"I'm afraid you can't see your parents for a while." His twinkle disappeared as he saw the look of devastation on her face.

"W-why not?" Tears were threatening to spill over. "I need to see them." She felt Ron and Harry take her hands but ignored it.

"When you came back, we had to hide your parents."

"B-but I'm h-here. T-there is n-no n-n-need to hide t-them." She spoke between stifled sobs. Both of her friends started to hug her while holding her hands, trying to comfort her.

"We believe Voldemort will try to take you again. He will stop at nothing to get to his prey and kill anyone that gets in the way. It is for their safety." He felt so sad to see her like this. He had thought she would have taken this better as she had been recovering from the trauma so quickly. She broke down as Madam Pomfrey came back in.

"What have you done?" She demanded of them as she tried to shoo the boys off the bed but Hermione held on to them tightly. "How have you got her into this state?"

"Miss Granger would have liked to have gone home for a few days but, sadly, it is not going to be possible." Madam Pomfrey nodded in understanding. She had been told about the girl's parents the night before.

"If it helps, Hermione, it's only three weeks to the Christmas holidays." Ron spoke up, trying to cheer her up. Her head shot up from Harry's shoulder.

"It's nearly Christmas. What's the date?" She wiped away her tears. She loved Christmas and she was going to have to make the best of a bad situation. She would see her parents soon; Voldemort would surely forget about her.

"It's the twenty-seventh of November today." Harry told her.

"We'll spend it together as usual." Ron nudged her as he smiled. She smiled back but Harry could see that she wasn't happy; it didn't reach her eyes like it always did.

'_Why does he want to ruin everyone's lives?_' Hermione thought to herself as Madam Pomfrey put patches of her cuts. '_We never did anything to him. How can someone be so hateful?_' A single tear slipped down her left cheek as she leaned back onto Harry. Dumbledore gravely watched her. This was going to have to end, too many lives are being ruined and it was killing him to watch so many people get hurt.

"We shall leave you to get some rest." At that prompt, Harry and Ron got off the bed and said a quick goodbye before following their headmaster out of the hospital wing. Harry looked back to find Hermione lower herself on the bed. He hated Voldemort with a passion and his hate was starting to intensify. He took away his parents, his godfather and now he's hurt his best friend. This man was going to pay and that was a promise.

Hermione listened to the doors close as Madam Pomfrey pulled a blanket over her. Her thoughts were starting to take over as she felt her shoes being taken off. She felt lost and alone, she had so hoped that her parents would be able to help her. She heard a distant voice tell her that she should sleep. Maybe she should, forget about everything for a little while. She drifted into a light slumber shortly afterwards.

She smiled as she found herself in her bedroom at home. She could hear her mum and dad talking downstairs. She raced out of her room and down the stairs to them. Her heart started beating wildly as she ran into the living room. They were sat on the couch having a heated argument about something. She smiled at them as they looked up. She was deliriously happy. They motioned for her to join them in the middle, she couldn't move quickly enough to them. Unexpectedly, the room went dark and she could feel something restraining her. The lights came back on and she found, to her horror, Death Eaters sat on either side of her. She started to fight against her restraints while she could hear her parents shouting her from somewhere else in the house.

"Hermione!" Madam Pomfrey shook her harder this time. This wasn't right, she should be waking up. She took out her wand and pointed it at her. "_Enervate._"

Nothing. The medi-witch was losing her calm. Tears were slipping from under her eyelids as she struggled against the blanket. Madam Pomfrey raced to the fireplace at the end of the wing. She took some Floo powder from the side and stepped into it. "Headmaster's office." She stepped out to find Dumbledore chatting with Tonks, Lupin and Snape. "Hurry, something's wrong with her." One by one they followed her into the fireplace to the hospital wing.

Lupin was the last one to step out and race over to the bed. She wasn't struggling anymore but lay there whimpering and pleading to someone. Dumbledore placed a hand over her forehead.

"Wake up, Hermione." He spoke loudly while looking at her. She was paling very quickly.

"We're losing her, aren't we?" Tonks asked, trying to keep her own tears back.

"No, I won't allow it." Lupin almost shouted. He took hold of her hand and sat on the edge of the bed. "Come on, Hermione. It's just a dream, wake up." Her pleading was coming to a slow stop. Dumbledore looked to Madam Pomfrey.

"Bring Mr Potter and Mr Weasley, Poppy. They deserve to say goodbye to their friend." His voice broke a little.

"NO! SURELY SOMETHING CAN BE DONE!" Snape shouted. Tonks fell to the floor as she broke down into hysterics. Lupin cried freely, feeling completely useless. Dumbledore shook his head and urged Madam Pomfrey to do what he had asked of her. The potions master grabbed Hermione and started to shake her. "WAKE UP! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO DIE BEFORE ME!" He felt Lupin start to pull him back. He let her go, his breathing ragged as he backed away from the bed.

Harry and Ron came running in after Madam Pomfrey. Luckily they had been on their way back up to see her when they had bumped into her. Panic filled their souls as they reached her. Her breathing was slowing and her lips had a bluish tint to them. Ron burst into tears as he bent down to kiss her. Harry felt numb, there had to be some way of getting her back. Then it hit him.

"Someone knock me out." He demanded as he climbed onto the next bed. Everyone looked at him with a frown, except Tonks who was rocking on the floor. "Trust me. When she was gone I had these dreams about her." Dumbledore understood as he took his wand out and raised it towards Harry.

"_Stupefy._" He said quietly. Harry fell back on the bed. Hermione's eyes widened when she saw Harry walk into the room. She was struggling to breathe as the snake tightened its grip on her neck.

"H-Harry," She gasped, "Y-you have t-to-"

"Ssssh!" Harry held a finger to his lips as he glanced at his surroundings. "This is just a dream, Hermione. Why aren't you fighting it?" He sat down next to her as he looked at the snake. She blinked hard as she tried to swallow. "Come on, you were always the one with logical thinking. Where's it gone?" More tears dropped from her blurry eyes.

"V-V-Volde-"

"Isn't here. I won't allow him to be. This is _your_ mind. Why are you letting him control it?" He was still staring at the snake. "Let her go."

"Never." It spoke back.

"Let her go." He repeated more sternly. It shook his head. "Hermione, I can't do this for you." Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head. This was it, this was death. Then the unexpected happened; her airway rapidly became free and she felt her restraints loosen. She slowly opened her eyes. She was in that safe room again, sitting on the floor with Harry.

"What happened?" She questioned.

"I don't know. One minute we were in your dream, the next we're here." He smiled at her. "I never realised I had actually being talking to you when I had these dreams." Her jaw dropped down.

"You had these dreams too?" She squealed. He nodded. "But how is that possible?" She felt herself being shaken.

"Time to go back." She could hear Harry tell her in the distance. She felt someone hugging her very tightly. Her eyes flickered open as she looked down to see a mass of bright red hair.

"You need to stop this attention seeking, Miss Granger. We have more important things to worry about." Snape snapped at her in a frosty voice. She glimpsed at him to find concern etched all over his face. She heard Dumbledore chuckle.

"You certainly gave us another scare." She looked to him to find there was no smile with that chuckle, only damp cheeks.

"Ron, I love you too but I'm starting to go numb." Her voice was extremely hoarse and sore. He stood back up and harshly wiped his tears away.

"You're going to give me a heart attack before I turn twenty." He joked but with no humour in his voice. Lupin simply took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He was too scared to speak in case his voice gave way. Tonks was shaking as she got up. She gave a feeble smile to Hermione and proceeded to stare at the floor. Recent events had a given her a hard knock; so many of her friends were disappearing and she couldn't seem to do a thing to stop it. Madam Pomfrey went over to Harry and brought him round.

"It seems you've saved the day again, Harry." The headmaster spoke to him like a father would to his son. "You must tell us how." He nodded as he sat up to tell the story of what had just happened.

Lucius slumped down into a chair in his living room, by a blazing fire. He had nearly not kept his word to Hermione. If he had arrived only seconds later……no, he couldn't think like that. He found it hurt too much. It was with no great surprise that he realised he didn't care if he had been put under the Cruciatus curse ten times for interrupting him; it would have been worth it. He couldn't simply stand to one side and let him kill her. Not now anyway, especially now that he knew his feelings were returned. Things may keep them apart but at least he had that feeling of being wanted. He had never experienced that before and it was most certainly something he didn't want to stop.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Disclaimer:**Don't even own a hair off the boy's head, JK has the ownership of all of them.

**A/N: **On with the thank yous and I have so many. **Elizabeth - **What are you like? Your reviews were amazing and sooooo sweet.I have no intention of leaving this story half done. Thank you for reviewing nearly everyday, you have such dedication for an average story but it all still means a lot to me. Hope this is a good start for your New Year. THANK YOU!:-) **TeEn TitAn 14 - **I'm glad you like it even though it isn't the ship you hoped for. I probably will get to that ship eventually in another story.;-) Thank you for your review. **HoNeYnSwEeTs0427 - **I loved the long review, thank you. Please forgive me for my mistakes in grammar. I do usually check and double check but sometimes I just get lazy and can't be bothered.;-) Thank you for your lovely review. **sarcastic - **Isn't it always the way, them finding out stuff when it doesn't matter anymore.:-) **hotskittles - **Thank you for your kind review, hope you had a lovely xmas too. **stargazer starluver - **Thank you. **mrsmalfoy - **I've always wanted him too but let's pretend for the story's sake that we haven't;-). Thank you for your review. **maile - **Even if you left a blank review, it would be enough to know that you have read the chapter.:-) **Allana - **You're going to give me a big ego, along with Elizabeth, with all this praise and love you're sending to me. But keep it coming anyway. **CharmedLeoLvr - **Thank you for reviewing and your story deserves nice things to be said about it. I sort of took the Harry and Hermione closeness from Prisoner of Azkaban, the film. You can see how they're close as friends but nothing will happen, it's lovely. **Artemis MoonClaw - **Nothing better than a short and sweet review. Thank you. **MiSSxMELON - **Hope your trip to China was still worthwhile with all the cold. I'm impressed you still reviewed while on holiday. Thank you. **T'Lorie - **You made some good points about the last chapter. I have a plan for Voldemort trying to kill her. It's nothing major but it should be in the next couple of chapters. Also, I saw it as just Voldemort's magic being in the dream, that's why he didn't see Harry. Did that make sense? Thank you for reviewing.:-)

Well, it's now twelve minutes into the New Year as I write this. Yes, that's right, I would rather update this than be out celebrating. I'm a big Christmas fan, not New Year's. Hope you all had an excellent Christmas and that the New Year will be even better than the last. Now tell me honestly what you think of this chapter. I liked it up until the end but I just couldn't change it for love nor money, it wouldn't let me.:-) Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Review as well, it does wonders for my ego.

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**Chapter Seventeen**

Dumbledore had decided it was best she spent some time with the next best thing to family; the Weasleys and Harry. He sent them all to Grimmauld Place the next day after Hermione's attack. She only agreed to go if she could have the school work that she had missed, and also made sure that Harry and Ron got theirs. It was no good them failing their NEWTs because of her.

Christmas was soon upon them and even though Hermione felt safe with the Weasleys and Harry, she still became withdrawn and jumpy. She hated the dark now. Ginny had decided to stay at school for Christmas and so it was fortunate that Hermione didn't bother anyone when she kept the light on through the night. And sleep wasn't coming easily to her. She was terrified that Voldemort would attack her again. The small amount of sleep she did manage to get each night was filled with a mixture of her beatings or the kissed she shared with Lucius.

No matter what Ron and Harry tried, she wouldn't talk about it. It wasn't their problem so why should she burden them with it? She threw herself into catching up on all her school work. Had she been in her normal state of mind, she would have been appalled at how much she had missed and fretting over how she was going to manage getting those more than perfect marks. But when she did manage to think like that, her pre-Hogwarts memories came flooding back. She would get so annoyed with herself. If she had managed to bury and forget them before, then why can't she do it now?

It was the day before Christmas Eve and Grimmauld Place was bustling with excitement. It was then that Hermione realised her wand was missing. She had wanted to practice her wrist movement for her charms homework but when she had searched her trunk, it was not there. She thought back to when she last had it and after much resistance, had to think about the day she had been kidnapped. She recalled having it in her back jeans pocket on her way to Hogsmeade but couldn't remember if it had still been there when she took her clothes off at Malfoy Manor. She had never been given her clothes back and it still confused her as to why there were those clothes for a girl her size. They couldn't possibly have been considerate enough to buy her clothes for her stay there, so who did they belong to?

Harry walked passed her room and noticed that she was sat on her bed, staring into space, tears trailing down her cheeks. He knocked gently on her open door, snapping her out of her stupor.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently as he sat down next to her.

"I'm fine," She sniffed as she hastily wiped away her tears, "I've just realised that my wand has gone missing. I must have dropped it that……that….." She found she could even talk about her kidnap. How had this suddenly happened to her? She had been fine to talk about it when she had questioned on her return, why couldn't she do it now? She felt an arm go round her shoulders.

"It's okay. You can get a new one. We'll get Mrs Weasley to take us to Diagon Alley." He told her simply as he gave her a squeeze of the shoulders. She smiled at his efforts to make it a small problem.

"I can't. I don't have the money for a new wand and with my parents in hiding I can't ask them to get me one." She sighed. What was she going to do when she got back to Hogwarts? She'll never catch up with everyone. Harry frowned before smiling again.

"Come on. We're going to get you a new wand." He stood up and pulled Hermione onto her feet.

"Were you not listening just then?"

"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's see if Mrs Weasley will take us." He dragged her downstairs before she could question how her new wand was going to be paid for. Within the hour, Mrs Weasley and Hermione were pushing there way through the busy Christmas crowds to Ollivanders, while Harry and Ron disappeared somewhere else.

"We'll meet you there, take your time." Harry had shouted to them as they disappeared into the throng of people. Mrs Weasley grabbed Hermione's hand and linked it round her arm.

"Stay close, dear. Don't want to get separated now, do we?" She smiled down at her as she pulled her through all the people. It took them ten minutes to get to their destination; it should have taken a minute at the most but that was the joys of shopping near Christmas. Hermione felt her body relax a little when they entered the shop. She hadn't realised she was so tense but it didn't surprise her. From the second they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron she was edgy. Her thoughts were filled of Death Eaters seeing her and taking her back to Voldemort.

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger." Mr Ollivander greeted her cheerily. "It's lovely to see you. And you too, Mrs Weasley. Come for a check up on your wand I presume." He directed at Mrs Weasley. She shook her head quickly.

"No, no. It's been working like a dream since you gave it the once over. We're here because Hermione needs a new wand." He frowned as he looked at the young lady.

"Twelve inch vine wood with a unicorn hair." He recalled perfectly what he had sold her nearly seven years ago. "That wand was magnificent; as are all of my wands. Why would you need a new one? Not had an accident, have you?"

"N-no. I lost it." She mumbled shyly to him.

"How on earth did-" He was interrupted by a sharp cough from Mrs Weasley. He looked from the young lady to Mrs Weasley. Then it all dawned on him how it could have happened. He had seen the fliers and read the papers. "I see. Well, let's have a look, what shall we try?" He searched through all his boxes and after a few minutes finally snapped one up. "Try this, nine and a half inches, holly and dragon heartstring, nice and flexible." She took it but it was soon snatched off her, "Maybe not then. Try this one, ten inches, yew and unicorn hair, a good strong wand." She barely had a grip on it before it was taken away. "Not that one. Try this, thirteen and three quarter inches, oak and dragon heartstring, quite bendy." This one only touched her fingertips before he pulled it back. "Not this one. Here, eleven inches, vine and unicorn hair, this one's more powerful than your last one." She took it and there was that was the familiar warmth in her hand as gold sparks flew out of it. "Yes, I knew I should have stuck close to your other one. Same things were used to make it but from different sources. It's an inch shorted so the magic will flow quicker." He took the wand off her and popped it back into its box. The door opened and Hermione turned to see a red faced Ron and crumpled looking Harry enter the shop.

"How much?" Harry huffed as he shut the door.

"Eight Galleons and ten Sickles." Mr Ollivander smiled at the young man. "Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather. Like all of my wands, I will never forget you buying yours." He nodded as he handed over some money to him.

"No, Harry, you can't buy my wand." Hermione protested when she realised he was the one paying for it.

"Yes, I can. Consider it an early Christmas present." He smiled at her. She blushed from her friend's generosity. Then flung her arms round him to thank him.

"So what am I getting?" Ron demanded playfully.

They left the shop in high spirits, with Hermione feeling better than she had in a long time and still muttering her thanks to Harry. They had decided to take a look around the shops before going back as Mrs Weasley had decided that Hermione needed the fresh air. However, she soon got fed up of people stepping on her toes, so left them to it while she had a drink in the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'm going to have a look in Flourish and Blotts. I'll see you in a bit." Hermione told Harry and Ron. They were stood in Quality Quidditch Supplies and she was extremely bored.

"I'll come with you." Harry said without looking at her, the better part of his concentration on the latest broom on display.

"No, you stay here. I won't be long." He was too engrossed with the broom to listen. Ron looked like he had gone into a coma at the price of it. She pushed her way through the people to her favourite shop when a jewellery shop next to Madam Malkin's caught her eye. It had the most beautiful necklace sitting on a cushion on display. She wasn't a jewellery person but she couldn't resist having a closer look. It was stunning. A gold chain with a thick, heart shaped locket sat there twinkling away at her. On the heart was a diagonal line of small rubies. It would look so pretty on her mother and then she could borrow it herself. She was just about to leave after she had seen the price when she felt the presence of someone taller behind her.

"Seen something you like?" A familiar cold voice asked her. She was instantly rooted to the spot, a fusion of fear and excitement flooding her. She felt his hand sit on the right side of her waist.

"You're taking a chance, aren't you?" Her voice was steadier than how she felt. She looked down at his hand and looked back up. As she did, not knowing why, she gently put her left hand over his.

"What can I say; I like the thrill of danger." He whispered dangerously. His heart started beating faster as he felt her hand on his. He didn't think she would have it in her to show her feelings. He had convinced himself that they would forget their feelings after a while but if anything, they were stronger now. He hadn't seen her in just over two weeks and he couldn't believe it when he saw her walk in front of him to look at the necklace.

"I have to go." She took her hand away and stepped away from him. As she went to walk past him, he grabbed her hand. She stopped, hoping no one could see the contact between them. She looked into his grey eyes to find a fire burning there. Where had the coldness gone?

"I want to talk to you." He spoke quietly. She nodded and continued to make her way to Flourish and Blotts. He followed her, keeping a short distance between them. She pulled her cloak tightly round her as she shivered and the cold weather wasn't the cause.

Once she arrived at the bookshop, she made her way into the darkest, most hidden corner. She looked over the titles of the books while she waited for him. A few minutes later he was stood next to her, copying her actions.

"How have you been?" He started on the uncomfortable small talk.

"My life could be better at this moment in time. My mind isn't my own anymore. If it isn't overrun with thoughts about what _he _and you did to me, then it's overrun with nightmares about….." She couldn't finish her sentence. She refused to let anyone know about her days of being bullied. "I don't sleep anymore. I can't see my parents. I'm constantly shutting my friends out and won't let them know completely what happened. And I have these wounds that just won't heal. Apart from that, I'm perfectly fine and you?" Her voice was calm yet cold the whole time. Lucius had stopped looking at the books and was watching her as she took a book about Animagus magic off the shelf. The words of an apology for everything he had done were on the tip of his tongue but then he bit them back. A Malfoy never apologises. He turned back to the books.

"What's done is done." He told her coolly. "But I see it all still doesn't change the way you feel." She snapped the book shut and put it back. "It is _not_ getting any easier for me either. I feel like such a stupid fool every time I see you……think of you." He was trying to keep an edge to his voice but this mushy nonsense wouldn't allow him to. He glanced at her to find her clutching her chest and struggling to breathe. "What is it?" He guided her to a chair at the end of the book shelf, ignoring the fact that people could see a Malfoy being kind to someone.

"I….can't……handle…..it……anymore." She managed to get out between ragged breaths.

"Take a deep breath and hold it for ten seconds." He instructed. She did it a few times before she was able to get her breathing back to normal. The owner came over to see if she was okay but Lucius waved him away. Her chest still felt tight and she could feel herself physically move with every beat of her heart. She cared for him so much yet it was going against all the laws of nature. He watched the emotion in her eyes; he had wanted this with Nerissa and never got it. And now that he had it with someone he cared for greatly, even in such a short time, it was still all wrong. Yet again, he couldn't be with the person he most wanted.

"I have to get back to Harry and Ron." She stood up quickly, causing a head rush. He held her gently while she got her balance back. His heart ached at the thought of her leaving.

"I don't know where you are staying right now and I don't care just as long as you're protected from the Dark Lord." He whispered over her head while he still held on to her hands. He looked down at her, while she was looking at the floor. "Write to me. Send me an owl that you trust and I promise never to follow it. I'll go mad if I can't speak to you again." She gently squeezed his hands affectionately before letting go and walking past him to the door.

"Are you okay, miss? Can I get you anything? A glass of water?" The owner asked her as she walked past him.

"I'm fine, thank you. It's all the excitement of Christmas getting to me." She feigned happiness as she spoke. Once she reached the door, she looked back to find him staring at her. She gave him a nod before leaving the shop.

Just as she shut the door behind her, Harry and Ron arrived both laden with bags.

"What have you two been buying?" She smiled at them while they both looked ready to kill the next person who touched them.

"Presents." Harry gruffly told her.

"It's Christmas eve tomorrow and you are only doing your shopping now. What would you have done if I hadn't needed a wand?"

"Then it would have been coal for everyone." Ron snapped as a cloak willowing behind someone slapped him in the face.

"Well, I need to get your presents so could you both just hold on for ten minutes."

"I thought you had no money." Harry asked as he avoided a flying bag.

"I don't. I had ordered these in the summer and my mum and dad paid for them." She spoke with a tinge of sadness in her voice. "I just knew they'd be perfect for Christmas."

"Okay, so you scold us for doing late shopping but it's okay for you not to have picked up orders. What would _you_ have done if you hadn't realised that you needed a new wand?" Ron berated her. She smiled sweetly at them as she wandered into the crowd. "Bloody women." Harry laughed at his friend.

They finally got back to Grimmauld Place nearly an hour later and they were all now in foul moods. They had been trod on, pushed, pulled, hit with stray bits of clothing and were sweating from being so intimately close with random strangers. Hermione went straight to her room with a resounding slam of her door. She threw the presents on the bed and made room on the floor to wrap them. As she calmed down with each wrapped present, her thoughts started to make their way back to Lucius. Maybe if she gave into her feelings then she would be happier. Her tears made another appearance as she thought of her parents. She needed them so much right now.

Once she had finished wrapping the presents, she pulled some parchment and a quill out of her trunk. She flopped onto the bed, thinking about what she wanted to say to him. After a few moments of thinking, she started her letter.

_Dear Mr Malfoy, _(She decided it best to be formal.)

_I don't know what you want me to say. I feel the same, you already seem_

_to know this, but how can something ever come of it? You've caused me_

_a great deal of pain and distress; physically, mentally and emotionally._

_This has to stop, please make it stop. I feel so lost._

_Yours _(She did want to add 'always' but though it too much.)

_Hermione_

She put it in an envelope and sealed it. She hid it under her t-shirt while she went to ask Harry if she could borrow Hedwig. He happily obliged while he tried to hide his unwrapped gifts from her. She smiled at his silliness. She took Hedwig off her perch and went back to her room with the snowy owl. She quickly tied the envelope to her perfectly steady leg.

"Take this to Lucius Malfoy at Malfoy Manor." The owl hooted in what sounded like annoyance. "Don't speak to me like that, Hedwig. I don't need anger from an owl. When you get there, you have to wait for his response. I promise I'll give you all the treats you want when you get back." The owl hooted softly and gently nipped her fingers. She wasn't sure where the girl had been but she had noticed her owner had been distraught when she had been gone. Hermione took her to the window and opened it. She waited till she could no longer see her form before going downstairs for dinner.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Disclaimer:**I don't even own a hair on Harry's head, they all belong to Ms Rowling. Damn her for having everything.

**A/N:**Here are my usual thank yous. **Midnight Lilly -**He should send her that and more after everything he has done to her. Thanks for reviewing:-). **Super - **Thanks for reviewing as always, I'm just sorry I've been too lazy to repay the favor, I will do it though. **hotskittles - **You're really in love with it?! Why, I've read better than this. Thank you for reviewing though. **stargazer starluver - **You're about to find out, tell me if it's a crap response, will ya? **T'Lorie - **Nope, won't be doing the lovesick letters, I'm no good at them. Yes, Voldemort will be making a move but you'll have to keep reading to find out when.;-) **Jenni - **Here's a lovely new update for you:-) **Elizabeth - **I just love getting your reviews, they always make me feel special. If you ever want to drop me an email, you know where to find my address;-) Hope you like this chapter. **CharmedLeoLvr - **I have big plans for these two, I'm just working out the kinks to get me there, hope you'll like how it all turns out though. **sarcastic -**Yep, Lucius is pretty gutsy. But will he be gutsy enough to sweep her off her feet?;-) **Lexi - **You're another one that always makes me feel special with your reviews. Keep them coming, I love 'em. **jameslvr -**A new reviewer. I love getting new people reading my story. Thank youfor taking the time toreview. **lyckan - **Update here and at your service. Enjoy.

Thank you all soooo much for reviewing. You'll be pleased to know that I have written AND typed up a good chunk of my fan fic, so updates should be often, hopefully. Hope you enjoy this chapter and you know what to do if you hate it.Also, was being lazy again and haven't read over my grammar and spelling, so feel free to scold me if you findany mistakes. READ ON!

**Chapter Eighteen**

Lucius sat at his desk, in his study, reading her letter over and over again. His heart ached desperately at what she had written. He found himself wishing that he could make it all better for her. It didn't even shock him this time when he felt guilt run through him; he had been part of the cause for her pain. He looked at the owl sat on his desk. Once he had took the letter off her she had turned round and kept her back to him.

"Do you want to sleep before you go back?" He asked her. She hooted loudly without looking at him. "NOLLY!" The house-elf instantly appeared in front of his desk.

"Yes, master." He bowed low to him.

"Take this owl to the owlery and make sure the others stay away." He instructed with a wave of his hand. The tiny being held his stick thin arm out for the owl, which she gently stepped on to.

Once Nolly had left he took some of his finest parchment out of a draw with his best peacock quill. He had so much he wanted to say to her yet couldn't find the right words for it. It took him most of the evening to write his letter and once he finished it, he placed it into an envelope. He went to seal it with the Malfoy seal but thought better of it when he realised that people might see it arrive. Instead, he tucked the flap inside and neatly addressed it to her.

He sat back in his chair, rubbing his face in frustration. What was he doing? Why was he acting so foolish?

"What's the matter with you?" A voice asked from behind him.

"It is none of your concern." He snapped at the portrait.

"You've been a mopping mess since she escaped. You're like a depressed teenager and the Dark Lord won't stand for this. Sort yourself out man."

"Don't toy with me, I'm not in the mood."

"You need to be told. If you carry on like this then people will start to talk."

"Let them talk. I've given up caring." He sighed. He slowly pulled out a box from the inside pocket of his robes and placed it on top of the letter.

"You should care otherwise you're going to get yourself killed. You're lucky to even be out of Azkaban. And what on earth is that?" The portrait ranted.

"It's nothing to do with you." He snapped as he scooped the letter and box into the draw.

"It's for her, isn't it?"

"You're beginning to test my patience so go now before I rip you up with my bare hands." Lucius spoke in a low, dangerous voice. The portrait knew not to push him and left his frame instantly. Just as he slammed the draw shut, Draco walked into the room. "What have I told you about knocking?" The younger Malfoy smirked as he sat down on the chair opposite his father.

"Are we going to the Goyle's party tomorrow?" He asked in a bored drawl. "The Parkinsons will be there so that you can discuss my marriage with Pansy."

"If we must." He sighed. "But we won't be staying for long." Draco nodded. His father had always hated the Goyle's, wasn't sure why. They sat there discussing general things within the pureblood society until it was the early hours of the morning. The whole time, he couldn't stop thinking about Hermione.

Hermione had just nodded off when she was woken up by a pecking at her window. She quickly rushed over to it to let Hedwig in who was trying her best to fly against the blizzard. The owl flew straight over to her bed and shook off all the snow before holding out her leg. She looked down to find a letter and a small box attached to it. She gently took them off her and placed them under the pillow.

"Come on, lets get you warm and I'll give you some treats." The owl hooted in delight. She took her down into the living room and placed her in front of the blazing fire. When she came back from the kitchen, she found Hedwig with her back to the fire and her wings stretched out. "You're an unusual bird, Hedwig. Do you know that?" She simply hooted before turning round to face the fire.

She knelt down next to her and placed a small plate of treats and a broken up piece of toast on the floor. She watched her peck at the food. After a few moments, she got up on to the couch and lay there, letting her mind wander. She slowly drifted back into slumber.

Lupin found her half an hour later. He watched her for a few moments, she looked so peaceful. He knelt down and shook her gently.

"Hermione," He whispered softly, "why don't you go back up to bed."

"I can't sleep." She mumbled sleepily without opening her eyes.

"I can see that." She peeked out of one eye and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"This isn't sleeping, it's dozing." She opened her eyes fully before slowly sitting up to make room for him. "I never sleep properly anymore." He sat next to her and pulled her close like a father would a child.

"It's been three weeks since you came back and you still won't talk to us. It really does help if you talk to someone." He told her gently.

"I know this but it's….there are some things that……there's more to it all than you think." She finally finished with an annoyed sigh.

"I know I'm not the family you want to talk to but I make a great listener." She laughed at his kindness.

"I'm really grateful to you all for being so patient with me. I know it must be frustrating wanting to help me and I just keep throwing it back in your face. There's some things that I need to work out myself and I don't know how to." Her voice started to break as she finished her sentence. She had started to think about how her mum would help her. Both her parents never judged, just helped.

"Maybe I could help. Or Molly. It's not helping you keeping it all to yourself. Don't think I haven't noticed." She looked at him through blurry eyes. "You keep the light on at night. When you do sleep, you have nightmares. You get very nervous when you're on your own too long." She frowned at him. "The beauty of werewolf senses. I can hear you shouting and crying for someone to stop. I can hear you shift about in your room if you've been alone for more than an hour and before long, you go downstairs just to be with someone. And most importantly, I can sense fear and you're dripping in it."

They sat there for a few moments in silence; Hermione taking in what he had said to her and Lupin not wanting to push her. Should she talk to him? Shouldn't she trust her best friends with this? In the end she went with what felt right.

"I was bullied you know." She spoke quietly and to her knees. "Before I came to Hogwarts I was bullied nearly everyday from the age of six." Lupin frowned at this new information as he watched her nervously twist her hands. He put his free hand over them.

"I'm not judging you, Hermione, and you don't have to tell me this."

"I know, just listen otherwise I won't ever tell anyone." He nodded and let her continue. "I wanted my mum and dad to be proud of me, never give them cause to worry about me. They always wanted the best for me. So I made sure I did my very best in school." She took a deep breath to stop any tears that might escape. "There were these three girls. They told me that I was showing off and no one liked a show off so they would put a stop to it. At first I wanted to stop doing well, blend in, then they would leave me alone but I couldn't bear the disappointment on my mum and dad's faces. So I ignored Jessica and her friends. Every time they were near, I sort of went blank, tried not to think about the bullying."

"Why didn't you tell a teacher or your mum and dad? They would have stopped this happening."

"I told you, I didn't want them to worry." She glanced at him to find him watching her closely. "When I got the letter for Hogwarts it was the happiest day of my life. My parents were a little confused but after a few days they got used to the idea. Then when I got there I felt safe. And when I made friends with Harry and Ron I was ecstatic. I'd never had friends before." She finally looked away from his piercing stare. "I decided that no need ever know about me being bullied. It was in the past. It was a wonderful feeling when my friends protected me anytime there were problems with the Slytherins. I made myself forget about being bullied, it would only drag me down."

"I can see where this is going. He made you relive them, didn't he?" She nodded.

"He knew they hurt me the most and when I stopped him from getting to them, he would try harder to get them. Making me live every moment as though it was happening again." The tears she had tried desperately to hold back finally fell. Lupin held her tightly, letting her cry.

"There's more though, isn't there?" He finally asked.

"Once he was too weak to carry on, I would be taken back to my room, only taken isn't the right word to use." She sighed. "Each time I had this spell performed on me I couldn't see, could barely stand and I was in agony." He gently lifted her hair to look at the wounds. "They've healed very little." She informed him as he looked.

"Who was it that took you back to your room and kept you captive?" He asked as he put her hair back over the wounds. Her heart jumped when she thought of Lucius. Could he understand what she was feeling for him?

"A Death Eater." She told him simply. He laughed at her.

"You really are protecting this person aren't you? Why after everything they did?" He questioned in a serious tone.

"I-" But she was cut off by people making their way downstairs. She shook her head and got up. She wiped away what tears were there and hoped that her eyes weren't red and puffy. She got Hedwig and greeted Ron and Charlie on the stairs.

"Morning, love of my life." Charlie teased her as she skirted round them.

"Morning, Charles." She grinned. "Is Harry up, Ron?" He nodded at her as he walked down the stairs backwards. She deposited Hedwig back on her perch with a morning to Harry and went back to open her letter and package. What could he have sent her? She took them from under her pillow and went back to sit against her door, ready for anyone that might want to come in.

She quickly opened the envelope and read his letter.

_Hermione,_

_I don't know what you want me to do to make it stop. The only comfort_

_I can give is that I am in great distress too. The pain I have caused you_

_can not be changed, but know that I deeply regret it now. _

_There is something I have to tell you. It may not be what you want to _

_know right now. I never thought this would have happened or could_

_happen. It should never have happened but it is yet another thing that_

_I can not change. I have fallen completely and totally in love with you_

_and it pains me that we can not be together. You have completely _

_captivated me with your innocence and your need to do good in the world. _

_What have you done to me?_

_Lovingly Yours_

_Lucius_

Hermione felt numb. She fumbled to open the box, trying to ignore what he had said in his letter. She dropped the box when she saw it was the necklace she had been admiring the previous day. She gingerly picked it back up as though it was hot to touch. She opened the locket to find inscribed the words 'I love you' across the inside. '_Oh god, what am I going to do?_' She thought to herself. As she read the letter over once more and looked at the locket, she felt like her she had been attacked with a sledge hammer. The bigger question she needed to ask herself was; did she love him back?


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Disclaimer:**Not mine. All JK Rowling's.

**A/N:**I'm afraid this thank yous are quick ones this time. I thought I might as well put this chapter up before I have to go to the building of evil that is known as work. **D.S, T'Lorie, STARINA69, SemiCharmed, elizabth **(you're the sweetest)**, Midnight Lilly, sarcastic, allana, CharmedLeoLvr, MiSSxMELON, hotskittles, SnapeSeraphin, and lyckan.** Thank you all so much for reviewing, it really means a lot to me. Also, be warned that in my hurry to get this chapter up I haven't checked my grammar and spelling. I can honestly say I wasn't being lazy this time. Tell me what you think of this one as it was one of those chapters that wouldn't work no matter what you did. Enjoy!

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**Chapter Nineteen**

Christmas day flew by in a whirl of presents, shredded wrapping paper and turkey. Hermione threw herself into having a good time even though she felt dreadful inside. She missed her parents dreadfully after having such a near death experience and Lucius Malfoy wasn't helping matters for her. So with a fake smile, well masked pain and some pranks (courtesy of Fred and George), she exchanged her gifts with Harry and Ron and told them repeatedly that she was having a lovely day.

As the day was coming to an end, they were all in the living room, stuffed from all the food they had eaten. Mr and Mrs Weasley were sat on the couch, dozing against each other. Lupin was sat on a chair near one of the windows, reading, while Tonks had taken the last chair to the back of the room and was star gazing out of the other window. The twins, Bill and Charlie were in front of the fire, scaring everyone with a game of exploding snap. Harry and Ron were lying on their stomachs, next to the rebel group, with a chess board between them and watching Harry's knight punch the lights out of one of Ron's rooks. Hermione had taken to lying down herself with her head propped up on Ron's back, reading one of the books the twins had bought her. Only she wasn't reading it.

She had just gotten to the end of the first chapter when her thoughts suddenly jumped back to the pendant sitting in her room, under her pillow. She frowned at the thought as she had managed not to think about it since that morning. She tried to push it to the back of her mind but her train of thought carried on and wouldn't let allow her to stop it.

That was when it happened. It hit her like a thunder bolt. She did love Lucius Malfoy. Well that wasn't right. How had that happened and when? How had he done this to her? This wasn't normal love, though, and she could feel it. Normal love didn't come from hate and pain. This love was very wrong. She felt herself begin to hyperventilate. Not wanting anyone to notice or fuss over her, she got up.

"Night everyone." She said quickly as she left the room without a backward glance. She raced to her room and sunk against the door once it was closed. She hoped no one came up while she was like this. She didn't need anymore sympathy.

She tried desperately to regain control of her breathing while 'I love Lucius Malfoy' kept going round in her mind. Her heart suddenly ached for him to be there, to help calm her like he did in Flourish and Blotts. This man was old enough to be her father, her enemy, her kidnapper. What did she do now? Did she tell him how she felt? Or did she tell Dumbledore everything? Or did she continue to keep all her feelings and secrets to herself?

"This…….is……….wrong." She whispered to herself, hoping that it would stop her emotions dead in their tracks. It didn't, they just kept running through her body, her heart was in agony, her mind was fighting wildly against these strange feelings, and her breathing was becoming more difficult. '_Yet you still want these feelings. To have them and for Lucius to return them._' A voice in the back of her mind taunted. She shook her head as she crawled over to the bed and climbed onto it. She was starting to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen. There was a knock at the door. She managed to beckon with great difficulty.

"Are you okay dear?" Mrs Weasley asked as she came in and closed the door behind her. Hermione shook her head frantically as she curled into the foetal position. She tried to say something but nothing would come out. Mrs Weasley raced over to the bed and pulled Hermione up into a sitting position. "Take one deep breath." She shook her head; her body wouldn't permit her to do as she was instructed. "Come on, you can do it." The older woman urged. "Concentrate on me and then breathe in." She finally managed that deep breath as she concentrated on a pattern on Mrs Weasley's jumper. "Now hold it for as long as you can." She had to do it a few times before her breathing started to slow into a steady pace. "Has this happened before?"

"Once. It was when we went shopping." She told her as she lay back down, exhausted.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I've caused enough worry over the past couple of months." Mrs Weasley stroked her head as she spoke. It was horrible feeling so useless. She wanted to help her but wasn't sure how.

"After everything you have been through…." Tears were forming in Mrs Weasley's eyes. "I'm sorry." She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief that she had produced from her sleeve. "I see you as one of my own and it's a mother's job to worry constantly about her children. I'm always going to worry about you. Even when you are completely safe I worry." Hermione smiled at her, thankful for her mothering nature. "If you ever need to tell me anything, I'm there for you. I will never say anything unless you want me to." The young woman frowned. "Nothing gets past me, Hermione. I can see the hurt and pain in your eyes." She kissed the top of her head and got up. "You know where I am." And she turned to leave.

"Mrs Weasley?" She turned back round. "There is something that I need help with."

Lucius sat in front of the fireplace in his living room, drinking the strongest drink he had in the house. He had spent the day at a relative's at Draco's insistence. It was clear that he missed his mother dearly and spending time with family eased the pain for him. Draco was not as strong as him but he found himself glad of that. He was actually wishing that his mother had loved him as much as Narcissa had loved him and Draco. Maybe it would have made these feelings easy to cope with had he had more love throughout his life.

He clicked his fingers for the lights to go out, making the fireplace the only source of light in the room. It made the furniture around him cast eerie shadows that danced across the room. His thoughts were of the enchanting young lady that had captured his once cold heart. He was going to get himself caught with the Dark Lord if he continued to just let his mind wandered. Luckily for him, Voldemort had disappeared to America. He had a plan and needed every Death Eater he could find. Lucius wasn't sure what they were yet and was glad he didn't.

For the first time in his life, he wanted nothing to do with his master. Life was getting too complicated and it was thanks to him. He had loved nothing more than to follow the commands of the world's most powerful wizard and come home to his wife and son at the end of the day. But the moment Narcissa had died at the Dark Lord's hand, that was when it started to go wrong for him.

He should be thankful really for everything his master had done. He had brought this wonderful creature into his life. He had felt this wonderful feeling for the first time; he felt wanted. Nothing he did could stop his emotions. No matter how hard he fought to despise her and push his feelings back down, he still felt drawn to her. But what to do now? Could he stand by and forget everything he felt? Or did he have the strength to persuade her to be his? Did he have the ability to forget his beliefs? The very same beliefs that he had been raised on, the same ones he believed in fully and had instilled them into his son. The beliefs that muggle born witches and wizards were filth, that they should be nothing more than servants and the privilege of magic taken away from them. That no mudblood should mix with a pureblood in friendship or anything else. Could he leave all that behind and hope she could too?

"Hello, Lucius." A cold voice spoke behind him. "Feeling sorry for yourself?"

"Go away, Severus. If you want to talk then you should have done it at the party. Now please just leave me with my self pity." Snape, however, proceeded to move over to the chair next to Lucius. "Do I have to throw you out?" He spat at him.

"Your thoughts are practically screaming out to anyone who walks by." Snape spoke coolly while watching the dancing flames. "No wonder you silenced the classroom when you paid a visit to Miss Granger."

"I've known you for a very long time. You never could resist listening in on people's conversations, so do you really blame me?" Lucius spoke in a flat tone. "Why are you here, Severus?"

"This is concerning your little visit. What were you playing at? I may not have been involved in this plan but it was quite clear on the girl's face where she had been and who had had her." Snape spoke in a calm tone, almost as though he was simply commenting on the weather.

"This is none of your concern." Lucius took a long gulp of his drink.

"It is when she managed to escape and has the ability to tell Dumbledore that you had her. But it seems something more went on than just the Dark Lord's plans." Lucius gave him a steely stare.

"What are you implying?"

"You know you're going to get yourself killed if you continue down this path." He ignored Snape and looked back towards the fireplace. "My, she really has gotten to you, hasn't she?" His face twisted into a smile. So this was why she was protecting him. There was silence between them while they observed the fire. Finally Snape spoke up just as Lucius was ready to tell him to get out. "He plans to attack Hogwarts."

"Has he gone mad? Dumbledore may be an old fool but he has never been able to gain power over him." Lucius' steady state of drunkenness had suddenly disappeared and he was now stone cold sober.

"He doesn't like the fact that a mudblood managed to outsmart him and one of his followers. He wants revenge and what better way to do it than an attack on the school and wipe out the rest of the filth while he's at it." Snape kept his face cold but he was panicked. He had told Dumbledore the plan as soon as Voldemort had spoken to him about it. How were they going to protect the students?

"Why wasn't I involved in this?" He snapped.

"Because you let her escape. You have lost his trust….for now." Lucius was worried. How could he protect her now? There was no way he had the power to stop an attack this size. "However, I'm here to extend an olive branch to you." He frowned at the greasy haired professor. Snape slowly turned to eye him up. "How do you feel about her?"

"What do you mean 'what do I feel for her'?" He wanted to be angry at his assumption yet he wasn't. He felt relieved that someone knew.

"Stop playing the fool, Lucius. It's not becoming of you." Snape kept his firm glare upon him. This had to work, Dumbledore was sure of it. Lucius' face began to soften. With a flick of his wand, he closed all doors to the room and silenced it, should Draco wake up and pay a visit downstairs.

"She's the same age as my son yet I love her more than I could have loved Narcissa." He said in one breath but somehow managing to keep his icy drawl. "I should be repulsed by her but I'm not." He suddenly eyed Snape up. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. Since when has a Death Eater been worthy enough to keep a secret?"

"You'd be amazed." Snape scowled. "I need your complete trust and faith to keep my secret now. Do this and you should have no problem pursuing the girl."

"Why are you doing this, Severus? We've never been the best of friends and the Dark Lord has never really trusted you. So why should I?"

"Are you willing to do anything for Hermione Granger or not?" Snape's voice was beginning to rise in volume.

"The real question, Severus, is would it be worth doing anything for her? She may reject me just like Ner-" Snape raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter."

"Are you willing to take the risk?" Lucius watched the shadows flicker across the ceiling for a few minutes.

"What are you not telling me?" He finally asked the potions master.


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Disclaimer: **I don't Harry Potter, I only own this fan fic.

**A/N: **I can do proper thank yous this time. **D.S - **Yep, tis a very naughty fic but not as naughty as some of the ones that I've read. **MiSSxMELON - **I think that was the first time I'd managed to keep Lucius in character, but you're gonna hate me in this chapter. It's OOC galore. I couldn't help it.:-) **allana -** Will there ever be a time you don't like this story? I hope not. **hotskittles - **That good is it? Well I hope this chapter is up to scratch for you. **chrizy - **How do you hope it turns out? Thank you for reviewing.:-) **Someonelse - **I'm really glad you liked this story enough to read it again after not reading it for a while. I hope you like what is to come. **T'Lorie - **Things are certainly starting to happen. I thought I had dragged it out long enough so I'm speeding it up a bit. Enjoy. **SemiCharmed - **Thank you for telling me about Elizabeth Smart, it actually made this chapter a little easier to write. Hope you like this chapter. **CharmedLeoLvr - **Here it is, you don't have to wait any longer. Hope you like. **Angelzeus - **It's about bloody time you reviewed. Of course you're forgiven, just stop disappearing and abandoning your good friend, the net.;-) **Midnight Lilly - **You're right. It is only a tiny start. He has to suffer. **Elizabeth - **What do you think of this chapter? Let me know. **renee - **Thank you for reviewing and I hope you continue to read this story. **He-loves-me-not - **Thank you for reviewing and it was really kind of you to help with my writing. I will try my best to improve it but I doubt that I can stop myself from making Lucius OOC, it's justa habit I can't seem to break with this character. **SnapeSeraphin - **Cliffies are definitely horrible, but you find the more you do the them, the more people review.;-)

Okay, I don't know if I like this chapter but I'm posting it anyway. I'm putting a warning on this chapter......not because of any smut (get your heads out of the gutter people). No, it's because LUCIUS IS EXTREMELY OOC in this chapter. I cannot tell you how difficult it is to keep him in character and make my story work. I will totally understand if you flame me. But apart from that, I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty**

It had been nearly three weeks since Christmas and things were starting to feel normal for Hermione. She had gone back to school and threw herself into her schoolwork. She was getting excellent marks, as usual,even with all the workload from the looming NEWTs. She had given up her prefect badge and duties. She had tried to do them on her first night back at the school but felt extremely panicked by being on her own for so long. She didn't feel safe enough to be alone where anyone could walk round the corner.

She had worried about having to see the younger Malfoy but since she had been back from the Christmas holidays, he had been subdued. He never taunted anyone and was rarely seen with his bodyguards. This suited her just fine as she doubted that she had the strength and confidence to stand up to him.

Also since she had been back, she was being taught Occlumency by Snape. He was his usual cold and bitter self but she was a quicker learner than Harry so there was no reason for him to berate her as often he did with Harry. The one thing that did annoy her was that he always seemed to look at her with a very strange look. It was almost as though he knew something that he wanted to torment her with.

She had never replied to Lucius' letter. Even though she knew she loved him, she felt it was pointless to do anything about it. How could it possibly work? She had been questioned a few more times by the ministry but always she told them the same; that any time she saw someone, they had their mask on. She was surprised that Snape hadn't gone running with the information but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Her wounds had finally healed after going through many potions to heal them. Madam Pomfrey had refused to give up until she found one. It was a relatively slow process; compared to if she had gone to St. Mungo's, and one that she never wanted to repeat again.

Hermione had been hidden by a pile of books in the library when McGonagall had found her and told her that the headmaster wanted to see her. So there she was, sat in front of his desk watching him pour some tea for her. The paintings around her were all snoring in their frames while Fawkes eyed her up.

"How have you been, Miss Granger?" He asked while pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Fine, thank you. I'm sorry I could no longer be a prefect." She took the hot cup off him as she said it, thankful for the heat as the library could get nippy in the winter.

"That's good to hear." She noted that his voice was serious and he hadn't smiled once since she had arrived. He sat back in his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. He seemed deep in thought while Hermione sipped her tea. She looked round the room at all the different magical contraptions in his office. She was dying to have a look at them but now wasn't the time. Finally he spoke. "I believe it is time you told me everything, Hermione." The cup slipped at the shock of what he had said. Surely he could not mean what she thought he meant. "I will keep this between you and me but I need to know what really happened."

"Why do you need to know?" Her voice was shaky at the thought of having to tell her headmaster her most private feelings. She knew that he knew the whole truth; she just thought that he wouldn't ask until she said something.

"I need your faith in something and if I'm not mistaken, I may already have it." Hermione frowned at what he was saying. He smiled softly at her. "You'll be a great help to the Order if you could just tell me." She felt a little insecure at giving up the truth of what really happened. However, if it helped the Order in any way then it would be worth it. Besides, she could always count on his word to keep it to himself.

She plucked up the courage to bare her heart to him and began the arduous task of telling him everything she had missed out the first time round. He never stopped her, never questioned her, he did what Mrs Weasley did; he simply listened. Once she finished, she drank her tea in one gulp. Her hands were trembling and a little clammy but it made her feel relieved again. It really did work to talk about it.

Dumbledore was leaning on his clasped hands, looking down at his desk, deep in concentration. It still amazed him the power of human emotion. Even after everything, she still loved him and wanted to be loved by him. It truly was impossible to decide who you fall in love with.

"I'm going to ask you one question and I want you to answer it thesecond I ask you without thinking. Can you do that?" He finally asked her after what seemed like an eternity of silence between them. She nodded. "Is Lucius Malfoy someone you could trust and work closely with?"

"Yes." She said instantly. She blinked in amazement. When had that happened? A Malfoy was someone never to be trusted.

"Then you'll be pleased to know that he has joined the Order." His sparkle and mischievous smile came back instantly and he was looking at something behind her. Before she could turn round, she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. Blond hair brushed past her face before she heard his whisper.

"Maybe in time I could earn your forgiveness." He let go of her and sat in the chair by her. Her eyes were still wide in disbelief. She couldn't stop glancing between the two men in the room. She wanted to ask a million questions but none would form on her lips. She couldn't even work out how she felt about the situation. In the end she sank back into her chair, giving up on any chance of a rational thought running through her mind.

"In exchange for his help he won't be handed over to the ministry. Can you live with that?" Dumbledore asked, his seriousness back again. She nodded absentmindedly. "That doesn't mean that I condone what he has done to you, Hermione." He gave a sharp look towards Lucius' direction and he firmly held it back. "But I believe we have him as an ally without any doubts of him going back on his word. We have you to thank for that." She looked up at the old man in confusion.

"I didn't do anything." Her tone flat, all emotions had disappeared with all sensible thoughts.

"You loved someone for who they were, without them changing, and that can be more powerful than anything in the world." He explained to her. She looked across at Lucius to find him staring at her.

"Why are you here? No one changes sides just like that." She was sure she saw a flicker of hurt on his face, she couldn't be sure, it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Dumbledore stood up and walked to the entrance of his office.

"I shall be back in ten minutes. I have this sudden craving for liquorice allsorts. Have you heard of them, Lucius?" The blond man shook his head in annoyance. "What a shame." On that last note he promptly left. Once the door was shut, Lucius moved closer to Hermione and took her right hand in both of his.

"I have loved only once before you, Hermione, and it caused me a great deal of pain. I vowed that it would never happen again. Then I met you. I don't mean in passing with Potter. I mean I really met you for the first time. I tried everything in my power to stop myself from falling in love with you, but you don't choose who you love. When you escaped, it hit me then that the pain was going to happen all over again. I can't and won't allow that to happen. I truly mean it, with no hidden agenda, no lies, when I say that I will do anything to be with you." He had been looking down at her hand that he was holding the whole time he was talking. He felt like a little boy, he didn't know that anyone could have the power to reduce him to a nervous wreck like this.

Finally, he looked up at her to find she had tears in her eyes but was smiling at him. For the first time, she saw him smile a real genuine smile. His eyes had lit up and were dancing. They had so much to say but it was all somehow said in the look they gave each other.

"It still doesn't mean that we can just be together." She told him bluntly.

"I know." He held her hand tightly. "I need to hear it from you. Is it true?"

"I love you so much that it hurts." She wasn't sure how she knew that was what he needed to hear. He gently cupped her face with his hand and gave her a quick kiss. They broke their contact with each other and sat back in their chairs. "You're going to have towork hard for people's trust. You've done a lot of damage." He felt his jaw clench at the reality of what he was going to have to do earn respect from people. "And don't think for one minute that money can buy you it this time." He flinched inwardly at how blunt she was being. It was what he needed though. The door opened behind them and a humming Dumbledore came floating back into the room. He sat back down at his desk with a packet of liquorice allsorts. She smiled at remembering how her father loved them when she was little.

"Right, shall we begin?" He chortled as he lay the packet down. It was a long and tedious afternoon discussing plans and what was going to happen. Nevertheless, it was all for the greater good. It had been decided that Lucius would be introduced to the rest of the Order individually. If they did it in a group, it could go very wrong. So they would start with Mrs Weasley.

Telling Harry and Ron what was going on would be Hermione's decision, and it was one that she wouldn't make lightly. So much lay ahead of them and they were all worried about the outcome of it all, but it was still what they needed to do to bring safety back into their world. This was the beginning of the most dangerous times of their lives. And one question hung in the air. Would they live through it?


	21. Chapter TwentyOne

**Disclaimer:**Not mine....blah blah blah.

**A/N:** On with my thank yous:-). **mysticdarkraven - **Was this soon enough for you?:-)** MiSSxMELON - **You really have faith in my writing, don't you? Well, you're advice really helped actually. I think I've managed to keep him in character but still show he loves Hermione in future chapters. Where would I be without you?:-) **Admirer - **Thank you for reading this fan fic. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **SemiCharmed - **I hope you like this chapter. I also wouldn't mind reading your fan fic but when I searched for it, nothing was found, and you sign annonymously, so I can't get your profile either. Send me the link....pretty please.:-) **Midnight Lilly - **Yes, you're right. He has some hard work ahead. **The Mad Madame- **We'll soon be seeing if Lucius can be an effective spy....but not just yet.;-) Thanks for reviewing. **CharmedLeoLvr - **I'm glad you liked my OOC Lucius. I hope you like the rest of the story. **ebony ink - **Yes, love does strange things to people. Hope you like this chapter. **sarcastic - **Yes he will notice changes....or will he? You'll have to keep reading to find out.:-) **SnapeSeraphin - **Be patient with me, my child.....just like I have to be patient with your fan fic.:-) I'm working on those moments, let's hope this chapter is enough to satiate your appetite for a little while. **hotskittles - **An update at your service. **Super - **I wish I had your determination to review everyone's stories. I'll have to take a leaf out of your book and sort myself out.:-) **T'Lorie - **So many questions you ask, but all will be answered in time.:-) **allana - **How dare he, the jerk! Give him a good kick up the arse from me. I'm glad my story made you feel a little better. Hope you like this chapter. **Dragonmaster Kurai - **I've updated:-). Also, did you get my email?

I'm always shocked when I get all these reviews....a big thank you to you all. Again, not checked my grammar or spelling....what can I say....I really am THAT lazy. Well, just a word of warning, I believe this chapter to be quite boring but it had to happen. READ ON!

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**Chapter Twenty-One**

Lucius didn't receive a warm welcome from anyone off the Order, and that was without telling them everything he had done to Hermione or the feelings they had for each other. But it suited him just fine, he wasn't there to be warm and make friends with people he didn't want to be friends with. He was there for Hermione and her safety. And if that meant switching sides and forgetting his beliefs, then so be it.

Dumbledore had also come to the decision that Hermione was ready to join the Order. It was a decision he hadn't made lightly and had debated strongly with himself if it was the right one. She had been through so much and grown up far too quickly, but she was nearly out of school and she wanted to desperately help. He had also decided, with Mrs Weasley's approval, that it was time Harry and Ron joined too. However, they would only be able to join once Hermione had told them about Lucius. This was Dumbledore's mischievous way of hurrying her up on informing them on the turn of events.

A meeting was held once a week in Dumbledore's office with whoever could make it from the Order. It was usually only six or seven members, with Hermione and Lucius being the regulars, as the rest were out on missions or it was too risky for them to go. They had to make the meetings inconspicuous, so that meant that people who didn't visit the school often only had to come to them once in a while. Just like the rest of the Death Eaters, Lucius had a knack for hiding in the shadows so that no one noticed him, and this was a great help getting him to the meetings every week.

Snape would sometimes manage to make the meetings with new information on the attack, which would then send the meeting into a flurry to swiftly adapt the preparations they had already made to protect the school. Lucius was starting to feel useless as time went on. The Order wouldn't allow him to help on missions they were already on and the Dark Lord still hadn't called for him, which meant he couldn't begin to show what he was willing to do for Hermione. He hated sitting around and talking about what they were going to do; he wanted to be out there putting actions to these plans.

Hermione and Lucius hadn't pursued their relationship in any manner. They needed clear minds for what lay ahead of them. They hadn't spoke of it, but a silent agreement had come between them that nothing could happen until life seemed safer.

As January faded into February and then slowly into March, Hermione had decided she had delayed the inevitable for far too long. She took them to the Room of Requirement and found it filled with cushions.

"Lucius Malfoy was the one that kept me hostage." She told them before they had chance to get comfy.

"'Scuse me?" Ron queried with a confused look at Harry.

"You heard, Ron. Now sit down." She snapped. Her mind and heart were racing. This was going to be harder than she thought. The past few months started racing before her eyes while she tried to arrange her words into the right order. Mrs Weasley had only just begun to understand Hermione's feelings and the fact that Lucius was now part of the Order. What were her two impulsive friends going to be like? How long would it be before they were calm enough to get a rational conversation out of them? Her only hope was that chasing after Sirius nearly two years ago had taught Harry to at least think before he acted. There was no going back now; the deed had to be done.

"Why haven't you told the Ministry yet? He should be locked up after everything he did to you. Why did you keep this from us, Hermione? We're you're best friends." Harry was scowling as he spoke. She looked around and sat on the cushion behind her. Harry and Ron followed suit with expressions of irritation at the fact that Lucius Malfoy was still free. Hermione watched them while she tried to think about where to start.

"I don't expect you to understand or to accept what I'm going to tell you." She started. She suddenly felt tears sting her eyes. She moved to sit in front of them and took one of their hands in each of hers.

"Hermione, what's happened? Did he do more than you told us?" Harry questioned as he gripped her hand tightly. She shook her head whilst she tried to control the tears that were ready to spill over.

"I'm just scared about the future." A look went between her friends but she continued before they could say anything. "What I need is for you to trust some of the decisions that have been made." She told them miserably. She was truly putting all of her faith into them accepting the unthinkable. Harry frowned at her.

"How can we trust these decisions if we don't know what they are?" Harry asked.

"Because I trust them." She choked on a sob that escaped her throat. Why was she crying? She felt like giving up and forgetting about it. She wanted her life to go back to normal. Then her love for Lucius came to the front of her mind like a blinding headache. No, if he could join the Order for her, then she could tell her friends about him. And what's more; she would make them keep their word to not hand him over. "Do I have your trust?" Her voice was unsteady thanks to her sudden onset of tears.

"You're one of my best friends whom I love and adore. I would do anything for you and Harry. So if that means trusting these decisions, then I will." Ron told her while gently stroking her hair. She smiled in appreciation. She hadn't expected Ron to be as easy to win over. She turned her attention to Harry.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" She shook her head. He glanced around the room for a few seconds and then slowly placed his gaze on Hermione. "You have my trust." He sighed reluctantly. She hugged them both and took a minute to steady her nerves.

"Lucius Malfoy has joined the Order."

"WHAT?!" Harry and Ron shouted in unison. They both went to stand up except Hermione pulled them straight back down.

"I need you to just _listen_." She ordered. "Voldemort plans to attack the school. He wants his revenge on me for escaping, he wants you dead, Harry, and while he's at it, he's going to wipe out the half blood and muggle born students." Both young men had looks of disbelief on their faces. Could Voldemort really be stupid enough to attack while Dumbledore was here? "Lucius joined the Order to protect me……..because I love him………and he loves me too." Harry blinked a few times, hoping that it would help his brain process this unbelievable new information. Ron had taken to ranting but his sentences were jumbled and no sense could be made out of them.

"Have you gone mad, Hermione? You can't possibly love Lucius Malfoy. He kidnapped you, beat you an-"

"Yes, I _know_, Harry. You can't possibly begin to understand the torment I have been through trying to reason with these feelings, but you don't choose who you fall in love with." She looked to Ron who was still ranting, only now he was pacing too, with the odd hand gesture thrown in.

"Voldemort now has an easy task of getting us now, you do realise that, don't you?" Harry rhetorically asked her with an unnerving calmness.

"No he hasn't. With Lucius on our side now, protecting ourselves from Voldemort's attacks will be easier." She tried to reason with him.

"Hermione, you're the one with the logical thinking, where's it gone?" Harry snapped, causing her to flinch. "Have they had the Imperius on you and we haven't realised?" That was it; Hermione's temper took control. She stood up quickly with Harry following her lead.

"SHUT UP, RON!" The red head instantly halted in his tracks and became silent at Hermione's command.

"A MALFOY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!" Harry shouted at her. "THIS SCHOOL MAY AS WELL BE HANDED OVER TO VOLDEMORT ON A SILVER PLATTER!"

"I didn't expect you to accept this. Even I'm just beginning to accept this. However, I'm your best friend and I had honestly thought you would at least just listen to me, but I was obviously wrong." She stormed to the door and paused for a second. "Dumbledore thinks you're ready to join the Order. Meetings are held every Tuesday in his office. I hope you'll be there." She told them while staring at the door handle. She waited a minute for a response, only she was greeted by silence. She shook her head as she raced out of the room. She wasn't about to justify her feelings to them when she couldn't do it for herself.

She kept running until she found herself at the library; her sanctuary. She quietly entered the large room and walked past all the busy tables with students frantically trying to finish their weekend homework for the next day. As she walked past all the bookshelves, she picked up a random book and picked a table that was hidden in the shadows under a window. She glanced outside to find the sky a crimson red from the setting sun. The library wouldn't be open for much longer. She sat down and began flicking through the pages, not really concentrating on the words.

"I was hoping you would come here." A familiar drawl spoke behind her. She turned to find Lucius stepping out from behind a bookshelf. She gasped when she saw him, shocked at the fact he was there for everyone to see. He was wearing all black with silver fastenings on his coat and cloak. No wonder it was easy for him to stay hidden in the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered as he sat on the chair beside her. She shifted round to face him. He had a smirk pasted across his face, the very same one she always saw on his son's pale face. She noticed that Lucius' features looked much more defined when he had his hair back. It took all her will power to not trace his jaw-line with her fingertips.

Lucius slowly took off his expensive looking gloves and hooked his cane on the back of his chair. He leant forward as he placed a hand on her knee. She blushed at his touch; she had always been embarrassed about contact like this.

"I had to speak to Draco and I thought I would take a detour." He whispered dangerously into her ear. She shuddered as his breath tickled her ear. She quickly looked round the library to check no one had noticed that he was there.

"You're timing couldn't have been better." She whispered sarcastically to him while she gave him a sharp look. He took one of her hands into both of his.

"I take it you have informed them." She nodded, feeling dejected about how they had reacted. He gently rubbed her tiny hand between his in comfort. "If they're as loyal as Draco tells me they are, then they'll understand." She half smiled at his effort to cheer her up. He wiped away the stray tear that started to trail down her cheek and gently stroked her hair. Suddenly remembering where she was, she quickly grabbed his hands and pulled them down to her lap. He laughed softly at her panic. "Potter and Weasley will have to become acquainted with the idea of me being the Order. I do not intend to go anywhere." His voice was quite cool as he said this.

"We'll just have to see if they come to the meeting on Tuesday." She looked down at their hands entwined on her lap. She liked that. It made her feel safe and secure, she hoped it would be like this after the attack. That was if they……no, she could think of it turning out like that. "Why have you risked taking this detour?" She asked as she looked back at him.

"This is what happens when you're in love; you want to spend every waking moment with the person you love. Only the circumstances at present won't allow me to do that. But I was here visiting Draco and I wanted to see you." She gave him a quick smile before letting go of his hands and turning back towards the table.

"And what if I hadn't come here?" She asked.

"Then I would have wasted my time and would look forward to the meeting even more." He watched her face for her emotions that she usually displayed so easily, except there was nothing there, apart from pain in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine……I'm worried." She began turning the pages of the book without looking at what was on them. Lucius slowly took the book away from her reach. She searched the library once more to see if anyone was looking; they were too busy with their own lives to notice her.

"Look at me, Hermione." He whispered softly. She turned to his gaze and held his cold grey eyes with her warm brown ones. He took her hands back and she felt safe again. It amazed her how something simple as him holding her hand could do that. "You have nothing to worry about. I will protect, no matter what happens."

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about how things will turn out. I'm worried that people are always going to live in fear………and I'm worried that you'll betray my trust." She confessed sorrowfully to him. She saw hurt pass through his gaze. It was only there for a second as he could mask his feelings so well. An awkward silence past between them. She let go of his hands, instantly missing the contact she had with him, and studied her peers in the room. They were passing notes, trying to stifle a laugh from something they had been told, being told to be quiet from Madam Pince and whispering excitedly to each other once she was out of sight. They were blissfully ignorant about what was to come; Hermione longed for those days with Harry and Ron again.

"I know words aren't much use to you but they're all I have at the moment." He whispered, bringing her out of her reverie. She noticed that he hadn't managed to disguise the hurt in his voice. It sounded strange coming from him, his tone was usually cold and flat. "There's nothing else I can do."

"I'm sorry, I didn't…..I'm sorry." She got up and looked down at him. He stiffly held her gaze. She gently placed a hand on his cheek. "I love you." She whispered and as quick as her hand was touching his face, it was gone, along with her. A small smile played on his lips as he watched her leave.


	22. Chapter TwentyTwo

**Disclaimer: **I'm in a bad mood and don't want to say it's not mine, so there.

**A/N:** On with the thank yous. **CharmedLeoLvr - **I'm glad you liked that scene. I didn't know if I should leave it in. **hotskittles - **Thanks to a friend of mine, I also like HG/SS and am currently working on one of my own. But it won't be up until this one is done. Hope you like this update. **sexy-jess - **Well, sexy jess, I am pleased to inform you that you are the proud owner of the 200th review. Thank you so much for taking the time to review. **maile - **I know exactly what you mean about this pairing. I stayed well away until I read a really good one, then that was it, I was hooked and had to write my own. **sarcastic - **I would love to be able to lurk as well but I'm too clumsy. I'd probably fall over trying to jump out and scare them. **allana - **Don't you dare take him back, missy. And big hugs to you and wishes for a better bloke for you.:-) **DSMelody - **I have every intention to keep writing, I'm glad you like it.

Well, everyone, I can safely say this chapter is absolutely rubbish, but it was the best I can do to get me to where I want to go. So read it and try to enjoy it....lie to me if you don't, I've had a crappy day. Cheerio!

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**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Hermione was the first to arrive for the meeting. She quietly took her seat in the corner while Dumbledore put away his pensieve. She watched the old man as he pottered around his office putting things away and chuckling to himself every now and then over something in his office. After ten minutes, the next person arrived; Lupin. He smiled at them both and took a seat next to Hermione.

"None of the Weasley's can make this meeting, or Tonks. They're a little busy this week." Lupin informed the headmaster as he made himself comfortable. "How are you, Hermione? You're looking well."

"I'm a little nervous." She told them quietly. "I told Harry and Ron about Lucius." She was nervously twisting her hands together as she spoke. She had been avoiding them the past two days, giving them chance to adjust to what she had told them. "They didn't exactly take it well."

"And can you blame them? I can't believe you want to trust him after everything he's done." Lupin snapped at her. Her head instantly dropped with a blush present on her cheeks.

"Remus, we've discussed this. Hermione and I both trust Mr Malfoy. I especially believe he will be the turning point in this war that is being waged by Voldemort." Dumbledore gently warned him with a stern gaze.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just that I'm not as forgiving as you." He took her hand and held it tightly close to his chest. "Can you forgive a silly fool?" She glanced at him with a smile.

"There's nothing to forgive." She spoke gently. He gave her hand another squeeze and let it go. "I hope they come." A silence fell on the room as they waited for the rest to arrive. Lucius was next, who spoke to no one as he sat on the only chair left next to Hermione. Slowly the Order members arrived but not as many as they usually had; they were all so busy these days with arrangements to protect the school. Finally everyone that was expected was there, but there was no Harry and Ron.

Dumbledore declared that the meeting had started and they began discussing about new information anyone had. Hermione began to blank out the conversations, feeling miserable that her friends hadn't trusted her enough. The meeting was nearly over when there was a knock at the door. Dumbledore called for them to enter. Hermione almost fell off her seat when Harry and Ron walked in.

"The meeting's nearly over, gentlemen." Dumbledore told them, his eyes were twinkling like stars at the fact they were here.

"Hermione never told us what time it started." Ron explained for their tardiness while looking at her. Harry had walked over to Lucius and the atmosphere suddenly cooled a little. Hermione immediately tensed at the glares that were being passed between them. Gradually Harry raised his hand to Lucius.

"If Hermione can trust you then so can we." Harry told him stiffly. She watched them shake hands, if that's what you wanted to call it. To her it looked like they were trying to break each other's hands. Ron moved over to them and offered his hand to him. Lucius reluctantly shook it.

"This doesn't make us friends." Ron spat as he snatched his hand back. Lucius smirked at him.

"I wouldn't dream of it." The blond haired man sneered. The three of them were still glaring at each other until Dumbledore coughed politely.

"I believe the meeting is officially over. We will discuss our plans with our newest members next week." Dumbledore told them in a voice that made everyone leave instantly bar Hermione, Harry, Ron and Lucius. The headmaster was pleased that these two young men had the strength to put aside their differences with Lucius Malfoy, but it was reasonably apparent that the situation needed to be handled now. "Gentlemen, if you would please take a seat." He watched them over his half moon glasses while they took seats away from Hermione and Lucius. "To continue with this situation, and for Hermione's best interests, I believe we need an understanding. The differences you have need to be put in the past. There is to be no more arguing, is that understood?"

"Do not talk to me like a child, Albus." Lucius scolded him lazily as he stood up. He picked his cane and cloak up and gave Dumbledore a piercing stare. "You have my word that I'm not here to cause trouble, now before I go, I would like to have a word with Miss Granger……outside." He gave a curt nod to the old man and ignored the two young men, before storming out of the room. Hermione smiled feebly at them as she got up to follow Lucius.

"What makes you think he can be trusted?" Harry turned on Dumbledore. "Snape's one thing, but _him_." Ron nodded in agreement.

"Harry, that's _Professor _Snape to you." He gently warned him while giving him a stern look over his half moon glasses. "Mr Malfoy has my full support and trust in joining the Order. I hope that you can do the same." His tone was final, signalling the conversation was over. Ron stood up and pulled the glaring Harry out of the office. How could he risk everyone's safety like that? What was he playing at? He wanted Hermione to be happy again but it was going to be a difficult task to keep his anger masked.

Hermione was waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase with a big grin. She pulled them both into a hug.

"Thank you." She whispered into their ears.

"He better be worth it, Hermione, because I'll have no problems saying 'I told you so' when he hurts you and betrays the Order." Harry angrily told her as he pulled away. He stormed off down the corridor, leaving Hermione and Ron to chase after him. They marched quietly through the school without as much as a smile to any of the passing students.

"What's wrong with loving someone your own age?" Ron suddenly demanded as they started to walk up the stairs. She frowned at him as she spoke.

"You don't control who you fall in love with, Ron. Do you really think I would have picked Lucius Malfoy if I'd had a choice? Do you really believe that he would have picked me to love? A muggle born? A mudblood?" The two males came to halt on the same step. She went up a couple more steps before turning round to face them. "I love him. I trust him. I don't want you to accept, that's too much to ask of you. I just need you to be there for me. I don't have my parents to help me understand what I'm going through, so I really need my best friends to be there for me if I fall. Can you do this one thing for me?" She bit hard on her bottom lip, refusing to let any tears flow. She continued to walk up the stairs when there was no response from them, just blank expressions.

Harry suddenly felt ashamed about how he had just treated her. She didn't deserve that, she had done nothing wrong. It was Malfoy who had deserved his anger, and Voldemort. He clenched his fists as he thought about the pain and suffering these two people alone had caused. Ron gave him a nudge for them to chase after Hermione.

Once they reached her, Ron threw his arm round her shoulder.

"Now, about this Defence homework, will you _please_ help me?" The red head grinned goofily at her.

"You are never going to change, Ron. I will look at it but that's all." She told him so sternly that it almost sounded like she had been taking 'stern lessons' off McGonagall.

A silent understanding passed between the three friends after that day. They never spoke about Hermione's feelings towards Lucius, nor did they mention her kidnapping. A civil tone was always kept between the Harry, Ron and Lucius, should they have to speak to each other at the meetings. This was something that had sealed that bond of friendship even more between them without them even realising it. But Dumbledore had and he felt sad that there weren't more friendships like theirs.

Lucius sunk dejected into a chair by the fireplace in his living room. He threw his cane to the floor and roughly rubbed his face. He had never realised the challenge of being in love could be so difficult. But would it all be worth it in the end? She was the same age as his son. Should they live through this, and after she graduated, then what? Would she want to be with someone twice her age? Would they still feel the same once it was all out in the open and they could express their feelings freely?

He felt a sharp pull at his heart, enough for him to gasp. How could he think like that? He loved her so much that it physically hurt. It would work, it had to. He needed to think of their future and make some sort of plan but how could he do that when it was so unclear?

"If you continue to put your thoughts on display, then you're not going to live for every long." A cold voice spoke next to him. He looked up to find Snape looming over him.

"I wish you would stop paying me unexpected visits like this. This is the fifth in less than a month. People will talk." Snape sneered at him. "Take a seat, Severus." The dark haired man sat in the chair next to him.

"He's ready to trust you again." Snape informed him as he sat down. "He has come back from America with nearly fifty Death Eaters." Lucius' eyes went wide.

"Fifty? We won't be able to cope with an attack like that." He looked wildly round the room as though expecting some sort of solution to pop out of the furniture. "Have you told, Albus?"

"Just. He remains resolute in that we can defeat him, but even I'm beginning to feel wearisome about the attack. The scales are not tipping towards our side." There was a dishearten tone his voice. He had never felt so worried since he had joined the Order. He had always deemed the Order to be winners, only now his faith was wavering.

"How are we going to do this, Severus? All those children." There was a hint of terror in his voice.

"My, Miss Granger certainly has changed you. I never thought that I would have seen compassion from you, Lucius. Especially towards children that are not pureblood." Snape taunted him. Lucius scowled at him.

"This is not a time to pick at my faults." He snapped. "How long has he been back?"

"Two days. He has spoken to me about calling you back into the circle. So you may want to start clearing your mind now or we'll both be done for." Both men kept a coolness about them but they were deeply concerned, not that they would admit it to anyone. It was then that it dawned on Lucius how much he had changed in such an incredibly short time. He found himself wondering what his life would have been like had Nerissa returned his feelings. A sharp pain shot through his left forearm causing him to come back to reality abruptly. He looked across to Severus who was gripping his left arm. "We'll now be able to see if you can pull off the job I've been doing for nearly twenty years."

They both stood up and with a last look at each other; they apparated. Lucius' ultimate test was now here. Would he truly be able to this for Hermione?


	23. Chapter TwentyThree

**Discalimer - **Tisn't mine and never will be.

**A/N:**Straight on with the thank yous. **SnapeSeraphin** - I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing with the meeting. The story is coming close to an end. **mysticdarkraven - **Thank you for reviewing, now don't be a stanger to it.;-) **CharmedLeoLvr - **I love my Lucius too, just wish I could take him home. **hotskittles - **Malfoy's are always good to read but what can I say, I prefer the older man:-). **sarcastic - **I'm not betting as I know what's gonna happen:-P. **LiLy MaLfOy13 - **I'm glad you like it. **DSMelody - **Hope you like this update. **MiSSxMELON - **I tried my best. Don't know how he does in this chapter though. I know what you mean about Dumbledore but it was the only thing I could think of to force her to tell them or she would have been putting it off forever.:-) **T'Lorie - **No need to feel guilty as you still reviewed. I hope you like this chapter. **Dragonmaster Kurai - **I hope you eventually took a breath, I don't think I could live with myself if you passed out.;-) **sweetytweety013 - **Love the name:-). Thank for such a wonderful compliment. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I hope you like the rest of it. **allana - **I'm glad you found someone knew. I hope you like this new update. **Maddys-Murphy - **I've tried my best and I'm glad it does get my point across. Love can be painful at the best of times. **Gina - **Lucius joining the Order was a last minute thing but I'm glad you like it. **Elizabeth - **I'm really flattered that you like my story that much, but it really isn't that good you know. You're going to get yourself into trouble over this little story and it truly isn't worth it. But thank you so much for liking it, it means a lot to me.:-) **Angelzeus - **Just keep reading and you'll find out soon enough:-P **Isis3110 - **Thank you for reviewing and it's always nice to be told that your ficcie is great:-)

Well peeps, this story here is nearly at an end. I won't say how many more chapters but all good things must come to an end. And I say 'good' loosely as I've read better than this story. I have some auditions coming up that I have to really concentrate on so if I don't update as often as I'd like then I apologise a million times in advance. Hope you enjoy.

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**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Lucius cleared his mind the minute he stepped into his spot in the circle. He was slightly surprised that he had done it so effortlessly. He had been forgetting to clear his mind at night or anytime for that matter. He looked up to the centre of the circle as the last Death Eater apparated in. Voldemort glanced around before starting.

"I have prepared an attack on Hogwarts." His chilly voice echoed round their forest surroundings. There was a shape intake of breath from a most of his followers, showing that he hadn't included many in his campaign. "I had anticipated lack of faith from those I hadn't informed. Yes, we are going to attack. However, it is not the old fool we will be attacking. Our target will be the Mudbloods that are roaming in that school, unworthy of magic. Children do not possess powerful magic, it comes with age, and Dumbledore cannot protect them all."

There were laughs and jeers from the circle surrounding him, including Lucius and Snape to mask their betrayal to him.

"As you all know, I have been in America, and I have assembled a larger group of followers to the cause. The assault will be brutal and great and the Minister will have no choice but to bow down to me. You will be informed when we are going to attack just moments before. Only I know of the date and time and it will stay that way to prevent Dumbledore from being prepared." Voldemort placed his piercing gaze on Lucius as he spoke. "I trust no one." He then began walking round the circle and as he passed each person they bowed down and kissed the hem of his robes. "Everyone must stay alert and prepare for the call." And as the last person kissed his robes, he was gone.

Everyone stood completely still before a voice that sounded like Goyle spoke. Lucius looked across the opening in the middle, towards Snape, and with a nod, they left. They apparated to the gates of Hogwarts; a silent panic passed between them as they proceeded towards the entrance. The school was silent as all the students were now in their common rooms. The two men were now almost running to Dumbledore's office; how were they going to prevent this? It was impossible.

It was a grave conversation with the Headmaster that went into the early hours of the morning. They went round and round in circles discussing plans. A theory on lifting the apparating wards was discussed, thus allowing Aurors to immediately appear, but that was dismissed when thoughts of the Death Eaters having easier access too popped into their minds. There was only one option left; send the students home.

It was decided that Dumbledore was going to send them home the next day, their lives were at risk and he couldn't take the chance keeping them there.

"We can't do it all at once." Lucius spoke up after being silent for a long period. Bags were beginning to show under all their eyes. "If we do that, we risk the train being attacked and all of the students will perish." Dumbledore nodded, realising he was right. Would it really be better to lose some students rather than all? Snape flicked his wand and within a few moments McGonagall was coming through the fireplace.

"What's happened?" She demanded instantly as she sat down next to Snape. She looked bleary-eyed and ruffled, with her tartan dressing gown haphazardly tied in her hurry.

"We have to send the students home, Minerva." Dumbledore told her with a sigh. His face looked worn and tired with no hint of his usual sparkle. "The attack is going to be too great and we would only be able to protect a small number of them. They need to be divided up and sent home progressively."

"When do you propose we do this? All the parents need to be informed of when their child will be arriving at the train station." She had finally managed to get her brain to wake up fully.

"They need to go home the moment they wake up." He informed her as he sat back into his chair. He felt defeated.

"What happens if they attack the train on the first group? Many of the Slytherins have Death Eaters for parents. Sending them home will not go unnoticed." Lucius pointed out to him, remembering that a vast number of Draco's friends were destined to follow in their parent's footsteps. They sat in silence while thoughts were speeding through their minds. Finally Snape spoke up.

"We send all of the Slytherins on the train," Dumbledore sat up to listen, "We send the rest home by portkeys." Snape looked smug with himself once he had finished.

"Yes, but the parents still have to be informed." McGonagall snapped sleep deprivation starting to already take its toll on her.

"So we tell the parents an hour before the train pulls into the station." Lucius had caught onto the plan and a smug smile was now playing across his lips.

"Not everyone lives near London, Mr Malfoy. An hour will not be long enough for all parents." She spoke through gritted teeth.

"You're forgetting, Minerva, all the Slytherins are Purebloods, their parents can apparate and still have time to spare." Dumbledore now spoke, feeling relief at a plan forming.

"Okay, now what about the students taking the portkeys? Muggle parents will definitely need time to pick their child or children up. Not only that, this has to be arranged with the Ministry and arrival points placed. This is going to take a couple of days, Albus, not hours." She now had a smile playing across her lips for stumping them. It wasn't that she didn't want the children to get home safely; it was a simple matter of organisation. If this wasn't organised safely then they were going to lose all of the students.

"We may not have a couple of days." Snape voiced what they were all thinking with defeat laced in his tone. Another silent period passed over them.

"Teach the students to fight." Lucius suddenly broke the silence causing McGonagall to jump at his voice. "Prepare them, teach them every hex and curse known."

"Have you gone mad?" McGonagall cried, outrage written all over her face.

"He's right, Albus. This may be the only way." Snape stated quietly, ignoring McGonagall's gasps of annoyance. The old man agreed with a heavy heart. "We have to start now."

"You've spent too much time with Mr Malfoy, Severus." McGonagall spat at him while giving Lucius her best stern look. "And I expected better of you, Albus. They're just children, they're not ready to know these things or be sent into battle."

"This is the only option we have for them to survive. I'm afraid this is the only way, Minerva. Could you please wake all the students up and have them gather in the Great Hall. Their training begins right now." Dumbledore ordered with a deadly seriousness. It was time to see if his students were a credit to their parents and teachers.

Hermione was propping herself up against Harry at the Gryffindor table, sleep refused to disappear from the students at this unreasonable hour. She was just beginning to fall into a deep slumber when she felt herself slip as Harry dropped to the floor.

"That hurt." He mumbled as he climbed back on to the bench with his eyes still shut.

"Does anyone know what's going on yet?" Seamus questioned while Ron made a pillow out of his shoulder.

"We know as…..as……….as much as you, Irish boy." Lavender snapped through a yawn. Hermione scanned the Great Hall to find everyone in various states of sleep while all the teachers were at the head table immersed in what seemed to be an extremely serious conversation. Finally Dumbledore stepped forward.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" He spoke in a tone that told them that something terrible was coming. "Today you are going to spend the day learning how to duel. I want you all to eat your breakfast," Food appeared at the tables, "and build up your energy. Then we will begin." He went to sit back in his seat and eat his breakfast.

Hermione frowned at Harry as they started to put bacon and scrambled eggs on their plates. Not one student questioned their Headmaster's motives, not even the Slytherins.

"You don't think…" Hermione whispered to Harry.

"I don't know, but something tells me we won't have to wait long." He pushed his food round the plate, not feeling hungry at all. She took another look round the hall to find most of them in the same state as Harry and her; messily dressed, hair sticking at odd angles and picking at their food while trying to stay awake. The sun was barely poking over the horizon, this couldn't be good if it couldn't wait until they had had a full nights sleep.

As soon as everyone looked as though they had finished, the food disappeared and Dumbledore had stood up and pulled the tables and benches away from them with a flick of his wand. They were now neatly glued to the wall while the students were chaotically sprawled on the floor, wondering what had just happened.

"I do apologise but it is time we began and it was just the wake up you needed." Dumbledore spoke in a light tone yet it didn't reflect on his face. They all slowly stood up feeling very disgruntled at their treatment. "Now, if you all take a look at the back of your left hand you will see a number." A sea of heads immediately peered down at their hands.

"Sixteen." Harry whispered.

"Thirty-one." Hermione replied.

"Sixty-nine." Ron added.

"Each of you has a partner with the same number. I want to do this swiftly and quietly. Number ones step forward please." He instructed. A nervous looking first year Hufflepuff started walking forward with a third year Ravenclaw. It was a long process that took half an hour to complete. Harry was now paired up with a fourth year Hufflepuff, while Hermione was with a second year Ravenclaw and Ron with a fifth year Gryffindor. "As you can see, none of you are with students from your own year. This will help to improve your strength by duelling with someone who has more experience than you. Seventh years, be as harsh as you can without doing any serious damage." The Slytherins were all smirking at this while a most of the first years faces had paled.

Once everyone had been positioned in the Great Hall, the teachers went round teaching them hexes and so the pandemonium began. Different flashes of light flew around while opponents tried to dodge them. People were in different states of pain but continued to battle on. Madam Pomfrey was on hand to one side, watching in disgust. She just hoped the parents heard about this. She trusted Albus but this was unthinkable and dangerous.

Dumbledore brought the duels to a halt when it was nearly lunchtime. Everyone hobbled to their tables once they had been placed on the floor. Hermione was still flinching whenever someone moved to quickly; her opponent looked like a sweet girl but her Slapping curse said differently.

Lunchtime was over too quickly for them. They went through another long process of being put with new partners. Hermione was now with a sixth year Slytherin and felt her heart instantly drop when she saw him. A Slytherin of all people, she may as well just give up now. Then she caught Snape's eye and he gave her a nod which for some unknown reason boosted her confidence. As soon as Dumbledore shouted 'begin' she had her opponent down with a jelly leg curse. She refused to lift it and then hit him with a full body binding curse. Hermione refused to lift any of her curses until she knew how long her magic lasted. Unfortunately McGonagall wasn't prepared to wait and lifted them herself. In a flash of orange he was up and sending her a curse. Thankfully she had been watching him the whole time and bounced it back with a shield.

Finally dinner time arrived and the students were well and truly exhausted. Hermione was suffering from a bleeding nose and a black eye when she stumbled over to the Gryffindor table. Only rest was not about to come to her just yet. Snape gripped her firmly by the arm and led her straight out of the Great Hall to a side room that Harry had disappeared into when his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire.

"Ten minutes, Lucius." Snape instructed a shadow in the corner before whirling back out of the room. She watched Lucius step out of the shadows after the door clicked shut.

"What's habbenin'?" She asked while trying to stem the flow of blood. He rushed forward to see the damage that had been done to her. She shivered at his soft touch when he lifted her chin up.

"Body throwing curse?" He questioned as he produced a silver handkerchief from his inside cloak pocket. She gratefully took it off him and started dabbing her nose with it.

"If dat's what dou call it." She muffled out under the silk material. He smiled as at her as he pushed her hair behind her ear. Feeling as though it was safe to talk without stemming the blood flow, she finally looked at him. "What's habbenin' and what are dou smirking dat?" He pulled his wand out from his pocket and gently tapped her nose. She felt it tingle and then her airway open fully.

"I cannot take you seriously when you cannot articulate your words correctly." She blushed slightly while muttering a thank you. "Come, sit down." He pointed to a couple of chairs near the fireplace. She gingerly felt her eye as they got comfortable, she hoped Madam Pomfrey would do something with it or she wasn't going to be able to see out of it by the morning. "The Dark Lord is back and the attack will be soon."

"I grasped that concept but what is Dumbledore planning? Why this?" She was worried and it showed clearly in her eyes.

"The Dark Lord refuses to tell his followers when the attack will happen. They will only know a few minutes prior to the attack. Dumbledore can't send the students home as it will risk them getting killed and he can't protect you all. This is the only solution; protect yourselves." He explained to her. He firmly held her gaze, it unnerved her a little as it was as though he was trying to read her every thought.

"How does he expect us to do that? Power comes with age and practice. We'll never be able to protect ourselves." She felt panic begin to overwhelm her. Lucius moved to kneel in front of her and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I have faith in you and your peers. Dumbledore is a good headmaster; the best this school has had and it pains me to admit it. Nevertheless, it's still true. You can't all be wrapped up in cotton wool forever." He soothingly reassured her. She gripped onto him tightly, never wanting to let go. He pulled her away and held her at arms length by the shoulders. "I have to stay away for a little while. I needed to see you before I went." She nodded understanding that with Voldemort back in the country then it was best he stayed away or he would be caught.

"Promise me you'll keep yourself safe." He gave her a piercing stare which she held with resilience. "Promise me." She repeated.

"I can only try my best. My main priorities are that Draco and you survive this and the Dark Lord falls. A world without you wouldn't be world worth living in." He had a sadness to his voice that he would never let anyone hear but her. She leant forward and gave him a gentle kiss. "I love you." He whispered as he stood up.

"I love you too." She got up and slowly walked over to the door. "Just try not to be a hero." She warned before leaving. Snape stepped into the room before the door shut.

"How does it all look, Severus?" Lucius asked sitting back down in his chair.

"The scales are not tipping in our favour. If they don't increase their speed on learning then we may as well just hand the school to him on a silver platter." Snape growled while pinching the bridge of his nose. He had watched them all day and he was sorry to say that they were not up to scratch. The only ones that seemed to show potential to protect themselves were Potter, Malfoy, Weasley (surprisingly), Granger, the Creevey brothers and the female Weasley. Even his own house was putting him to shame.

"Do think it is possible to sway some of the followers to our way of thinking? Surely they would value their freedom and safety more than him." Lucius felt him grasping at straws, but it was better than not trying to anything.

"It wouldn't work; we would be risking our cover." Snape sighed. "I believe it is time that we accept that we have chosen the losing side and go down with the ship."


	24. Chapter TwentyFour

**Disclaimer:**I only own the shirt on my back and my own novel.

**A/N:**I only have a few thanks you, so this should be quick:-)** Noemi - **It always overwhelms me when people compare my fics to Ms Rowling herself. It's such a wonderful compliment to be made but I can only hope to have half the talent she does. I'm glad you that you like my story and I will definitely try my hand at a Harry and Hermione fic for you. **sexy-jess - **I'm quite proud of myself for thinking of that line:-) I hope this chapter is up to my usual standards for you. **Severus' And Lucius' Girl - **I know what you mean and had thought of it, but then decided to leave it. I just like to think of it as Snape being his usual berating self. **allana - **All my love right back atcha. I have a nice surprise for you in this chapter, see if you can spot it:-). **hotskittles - **Is this soon enough? And older men are the best.

Well, I'm sorry to say it's nearly at an end and I don't want it to be. But I have so much going on right now that I can't keep dragging it out. Besides, it would just get boring. However, there is a wonderful story that I'm Beta reading called **The Rose That Bleeds** by **Lyckan**. It's a HG/LM story and you should all go and read it:-) Hope you enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Spring was starting to make its presence known around the school grounds but the place was filled with sombre faces. N.E.W.T's and O.W.L's were starting to stress the fifth and seventh years. They also had the added pressure of learning how to duel two days of the week, and they were always long days. Dumbledore had received his fair number of Howlers off annoyed parents, however, they were soon overshadowed with praise from parents who thought it best their child or children know how to do these things in such a time of worry.

Hermione had cut off all of her emotions and thrown herself into studying for her looming exams. And when she wasn't doing that, she was searching for fierce hexes and curses that they hadn't been taught yet. Even Harry and Ron were rarely seen without a book under their arm.

None of the students had been informed of why they were suddenly learning all these new spells for combat but they didn't question it. They knew something serious was going to happen and left it at that. Teachers were now bearing down on their students for any mistakes in their lessons, the pressure of walking on eggshells clearly getting to them.

Dumbledore had taken to making the same speech each night at dinner; a united front was needed by _all_ houses and family beliefs forgotten. The latter part always aimed at the Slytherin table.

Hermione was in her usual spot in the library, in a corner away from everyone. She had done her time of studying for the night and now it was time to do some research. She grabbed the large volume nearest to her and opened it at a random page. A lengthy spell in the middle of the page caught her eye. She read it through three times, feeling as though she was missing something. She took a look at the cover: '_Magic Through the Family Line: How to use it to your advantage'_. Of course, how had she not thought of it before? Her heart was racing and felt light for the first time in months. She had a broad smile and couldn't believe luck could actually be on their side. It was going to take some thinking through and practice, but it should work.

She quickly checked the book out and almost ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower. Harry and Ron were in a corner doing their homework. She practically dragged them out of the common room and refused to say a word until they reached the Room of Requirement. They weren't about to argue either, as she was smiling and it had to mean something good.

"Take a look at this spell." She instructed as soon as they sat down on a couch in the corner. She gave them the open book and pointed to it. They both read it and then gave her a confused look. "Look at the title of the book." The closed the book and the frown went even deeper. "Harry, if you do that spell then you have all the power you need to defeat Voldemort." His head shot up at the word 'defeat'.

"You really think this will work?" He queried, not sure how this was going to give him that sort of power. She nodded vigorously causing her hair to come loose from her hair band.

"In the prophecy, Harry, it says that '_he will have power the Dark Lord knows not_'. Voldemort doesn't know love and that's the power that protected you when you were a baby. If you say that spell, you will have so much love surrounding you that your power will be immense. It'll be enough to defeat Voldemort." She explained excitedly, only just enunciating her words. There was a lengthy silence before anyone spoke.

"There's no guarantee that this will work, Hermione. Also, the prophecy might not be about me." Harry told her in a defeatist tone.

"Yes, I know that. So we bring Neville into the equation and double the power. Bring Ron and me into it as well to add to your power then there will be no stopping you." She was on a roll now and she wasn't about to let anyone deflate this feeling of euphoria. Both her friends still looked sceptical about it. "We have nothing to lose now; this is the only option that may help us." She was practically pleading for them to accept her theory.

"But if it's a power from either Neville or me that kills Voldemort then how will you and Ron help. Besides, you're muggle born; there is no magic in your family." He felt guilty for pulling up these questions; he did want it to work. It just seemed too easy.

"Doesn't matter, we change the words in the spell to suit Ron and me, and our ancestors will help you not us. As for magic in my family, that doesn't matter, it's the love through my family that is the key."

"I am here, do I get a say yet?" Ron asked indignantly with a firm crossing of the arms. Hermione gave him a pointed glare to urge him. "I think she may have a good plan, mate. It does make sense how all of this would work." She smiled at his confidence in her theory. Harry finally gave in, realising that it was better than nothing.

The rest of the evening was spent with Harry practicing while Hermione reworded the spell for Ron and herself and Ron had pulled Neville into the room. To say that Neville had a panic attack was an understatement when he had been told of everything that had had happened and what was to come. It wasn't an easy task calming him down but with a painful slap across the face off Hermione and some stern words off Ron, he was ready to take on the world. They had confidence in him and his ability to do the spell and it boosted his confidence a great deal.

They had decided that they weren't going to tell Dumbledore about their plan; he would only dissuade them from using such powerful magic. Unbeknownst to them, he had come up with a plan of his own and with both plans combined………….but would they realise the power when it came to the time it was needed.

It was time for yet another day of duelling in the Great Hall and with their plan in action, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville were feeling extremely confident. Dumbledore had them line up against one side of the hall. He was going to try a new tactic today. He put them in lines of twenty and placed a wardrobe ten metres away from them and in the centre of the lines.

"Could the front line all aim their wands at this rather unfortunate wardrobe." He instructed. Twenty wand arms shot straight up and were aimed to the wardrobe. "Now send the worst hex you know at it." Loud instructions immediately filled the hall and disappeared as quickly as they came. A multi coloured flash headed towards the wardrobe and it vanished into thousands of pieces. "Just as I thought." Dumbledore mumbled to himself, his sparkle finally back in his eyes with hope in his heart. Everyone bar the headmaster was astounded at what had just taken place.

He made the students repeat the process all day long, increasing the numbers in the lines as he went along. This could possibly work; the only flaw was that he may have to inform the students as to why he was doing this.

The day came to a tiring end at dinner time. The students ate in silence with the odd request for food to be passed to them filling the hall. Even the teachers had a subdued silence about them and they had been there to simply watch over the students. Present events were taking their toll on everyone.

Sleep had taken over most of the inhabitants of the school when Severus was doing his walk around the school. It was as he made his finally stop at the library that his left forearm started to burn. He immediately picked up his stride and was outside the grounds of Hogwarts within ten minutes. He disapparated the second he was over the line that stopped him for apparating. He apparated into the familiar surroundings of a forest and stepped into his place in the circle.

"We attack tonight." Voldemort stated coolly once the last Death Eater had appeared. "Apparate into Hogsmeade and wait for my signal." Lucius and Severus felt their hearts jump into their throats. It was too soon. "GO!" Voldemort shouted to them all.

Both Lucius and Severus arrived outside the gates of Hogwarts. All dignities were forgotten as they stumbled up the path trying to run as fast as they could. Snape sent Dumbledore a signal as they reached the entrance. Both men shut the entrance doors and brought the wooden bar across them and placed as many locking charms on it as they could.

Dumbledore arrived at the top of the stairs as they both spun round to face him.

"He's coming." Snape told him calmly, but his appearance was dishevelled.

"Can everyone please wake up and report to the Entrance Hall immediately." Dumbledore's voice boomed through every corridor, classroom, common room and bedroom in the school. Lucius watched him exude power as he prepared himself for this battle. After a couple of minutes, a thunderous noise could be heard coming from all directions as the students and teachers approached. A silence fell upon them as soon as everyone was there. "Lord Voldemort is coming to attack the school," gasps erupted through the Entrance Hall, "We do not have much time left, you all know what you have been taught, use this knowledge well and unite together. Now will everyone go into the Great Hall and gather as far away from the doors as possible."

Calmness had made its presence know over the student body as they quickly positioned themselves in the Great Hall. Lucius blended in with the crowd as he searched for Hermione. He finally found her with Potter, Weasley and Longbottom. His gaze then searched for his son, who was only a few feet away from Hermione. He quickly cut through the crowd to Draco.

"Make sure you keep the Slytherins on this side. Do this and you will be honoured well." He hissed into his ear. Draco gave him a curt nod. He had spent much time over the pass few weeks persuading his friends that the Dark Lord wasn't the way, freedom of thought was. They had argued with him at first and were clearly not happy about betraying their parents but Draco could be very persuasive when he wanted to be. He wasn't sure what had caused his father to change so drastically and he wasn't bothered either, just as long as he got his inheritance. Lucius gave him a squeeze on his shoulder then moved to Hermione. All three boys surrounding her glared at him.

"I have nothing to hide, come with us if you must."

Hermione followed the blond haired man into the room she had last met him in, with Harry, Ron and Neville close behind her. Once the last person had entered the room, Lucius spoke quickly.

"Maybe I'll get your trust now." He drawled at the three men surrounding Hermione. Their response was to glare at him. He turned his attention back to Hermione and took a deep breath. "Hermione, marry me?" All four jaws fell open. He waited on baited breath for her answer. He had stayed away for nearly a month, pretending to be a Death Eater and the whole time he had wanted to take Hermione and disappear. Keep them both safe from everything, never to be heard of again. But his conscience had decided to haunt him for the first time in years and he wanted to do right by Hermione, which meant protecting the school. It was then that he had realised he wanted to marry her and be with her for the rest of her life.

"Yes." A small female voice pulled him out of his daze. All the males blinked in astonishment at her answer. She gently took his hands in hers and gave him an earnest look. "I feel safe and warm in knowing that I love you and I don't want it to go. So my answer is yes." In a flash he was hugging her tightly and whirling her round in a circle. The three young men stood near the door, unable to find words to speak. Once her feet were firmly on the ground she turned to them. "You can argue about this later. We have a spell to perform." They clamped their mouths shut, nodded and left the room.

"What spell, Hermione?" He demanded, not liking the look that had passed between them. She gave him a smirk that could rival his own and left the room. He quickly followed her to find all the students in lines of approximately fifty, the front line all had their wands in front of them, some were held steadier than others. The teachers were stood on a table behind all of the students with Hermione, Ron, Harry and Neville stood in a group on their own to the side of the table. Lucius immediately took his position next to Snape on the table at the end.

"Cast the Shield spell every time the students have stopped sending curses then wait for the Death Eaters to stop throwing curses back before it's lifted. Dumbledore has sent word to the Ministry; we're still waiting to hear from them. The rest of the Order are coming." Snape instructed Lucius quickly. He acknowledged it with a nod while his gaze was firmly on Hermione, wondering what she was planning.

"Let's hope the Aurors get here in time." Lucius whispered back.

"Professor, when Voldemort is near enough, Hermione, Ron, Neville and I are going to step in front. We have a plan; we just need you to shield us until we've stopped saying the spell." Harry hurriedly informed Dumbledore and with no hesitation or questions asked, he told the teachers to do as he asked.

The Great Hall was so silent that a pin dropping to the floor would have been heard. A thousand hearts were pounding, breaths were ragged and perspiration was shining on their foreheads.

A loud, vibrating boom reverberated into the Great Hall. Grips tightened on their wands as they prepared for the inevitable.


	25. Chapter TwentyFive

**Disclaimer:**Blah blah blah blah blah 

**A/N:** Straight to it**. mysticdarkraven -** Tada, behold, a brand spanking new update.** Dragonmaster Kurai -**Breath before I have a death on my conscience-)** Semi Charmed -** I'm glad you liked it, it's really hard trying to make writing suspenseful.** SongsofStars - **I can't believe our numbers disappeared like that? What on earth are the powers that be up to. Thanks for the review-)** sarcastic -** I hope the wait wasn't too bad. I know, it was a little OOC but he loves her-) **hotskittles -** I didn't know that. I hate it if I haven't updated in a while, I always feel as though I'm letting you down if you have to wait too long. **GinnyGin -** It's very wrong but I couldn't help myself-) Glad you like my story though. **PainsOfThePast - **Here's the new chapter at your service.** Super - **Watch your numbers, they could go missing.-) Thanks for the review...my preciousssss.** allana - **Where would I be without your praises of love. I hope this chapter is up to scratch for you.** pantspie - **So, I have secret readers out there-) I hope you're still breathing otherwise that's two that I have on my conscience. Hope you like this chapter.** coldnessofdeath - **Hey Elizabeth, you give me such a big head with your reviews. I am happily married but marriage isn't something to rush in. It's not always for everyone. And I'm afraid this story is coming to an end, but this chapter isn't it. Hope you like it.** sexy-jess -** hope you like this one. **Chantal - J -** I've updated.** Stella9876 -** Here's what's coming...

As you can see people, my name has gone from Shyngr8 to shy-n-great. Fan fic. net have decided that they don't like numbers and taken the 8 off my original name and shyngr looks stupid. Well, we're definitely nearing the end, but this chapter isn't it. I've tried to be an action writer for this one but this was how it turned out. If you don't like it then pretend...only joking...let me know what you think. NOW GO READ!

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**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Hermione felt as though she was going to pass out from the sheer panic. She felt a reassuring hand grip her free one. She looked to find Harry smiling at her and in that instant her panic disappeared. They could do this. She glanced towards Ron and Neville to find them both breathing deeply.

Voices could be heard on the other side of the door. They seemed to be spreading out in the school. Finally, what they had all been anxiously waiting for happened; the doors were thrown open and in stormed at least twenty Death Eaters. If their faces hadn't been covered then the students would have seen looks of absolute shock. The studentsshould have been in bed asleep, not stood there with their wands pointed at them. However, they didn't have chance to register what was happening when the first line of students sent their curses to the centre of the Death Eaters. Three of them were hit with such force that they were sent flying back, taking four Death Eaters with them. They threw more curses to the left side at Dumbledore's instruction and sent four more straight into the wall.

"WAIT!" The Head master shouted before the teachers sent shields over them. The Death Eaters having caught on were now sending curses at them. Thanks to the shields, they bounced back and hit them instead. Having heard the commotion, the rest of the Death Eaters were quickly joining them. Hermione felt Harry's grip painfully tighten at the number of Death Eaters coming in. The students under the shield were swapping positions.

Once the Death Eaters started to slow on their curses, the shields were lifted and the first line of students sent curses to the right causing five of the Death Eaters to be sent crashing to the wall. A few students had received some malicious curses and were on the floor unconscious. Dumbledore shouted for the shields to go back down.

Hermione felt her nerves come back with a vengeance. They were outnumbered in powerful magic. Neville was visibly shaking and had gone green.

"Neville, we can do this. Don't panic." Hermione tried to reassure him but her own shaky voice wasn't helping. He gave her what she could only assume was a nod. They felt the shields losing power from the effect of so many curses being thrown at it.

Harry suddenly gasped as he clutched his forehead.

"He's coming." He confirmed to them. "We have to get ready. Professor, we need more of those Death Eaters down."

"DOWN!" Dumbledore roared with his voice barely audible over the commotion. This time the first two lines aimed; the first to the right and the second to the left. This time ten Death Eaters were knocked and only three students.

"Where is the rest of the Order?" Lucius hissed to Snape. He threw a potent curse at a Death Eater who was too near to them for his liking. The masked stranger's legs instantly bent into odd angles causing him to fall and cry out in agony.

"They have to be careful about how they get here." Snape snapped at him. "Albus, we need more power than these students can offer." Dumbledore nodded, and the adults on the table, finally feeling like they could do something, took aim. The students started to duck down from various lights coming towards them. There was approximately forty Death Eaters now in the hall and no more seemed to be entering.

Dumbledore sent the first curse, which was quickly followed by the rest. Twelve Death Eaters went down but it wasn't enough. The original recipients of the students' curses were waking up and joining the fight again.

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville were under the table and the pain from Harry's scar was starting to intensify. Ron suddenly blanched as he noticed the killing curse being sent now. They were missing people by centimetres.

"As soon as he walks through those doors, we start saying the spell." Harry instructed them, forcing himself to forget the pain. He looked up to find the shields had gone back over the students. He could hear arguing come from some surrounding Malfoy.

"I'm not going to fight my dad anymore, Draco." A girl with black hair snapped at him.

"Go on then, go and die." He spoke lazily and had a smirk on his face. They were still down on the ground and he was acting as though nothing more than a food fight was happening. The girl gave him an icy stare before deciding that she was going to stay put. He was given a few more glares but it seemed none of them had the guts to walk out from under the shield. And it was quite clear the Death Eaters were not about to take great care towards their children as they continued to throw deadly curses.

"He's in the school; we need to start doing something." Harry spoke through gritted teeth. The pain had increased more than he thought possible. He glanced around, trying to think of something. He felt anger building up inside him.

"Harry?" Dumbledore spoke lightly as he looked down to where Harry was crouching. Hermione watched Harry slowly stand up under the shield. She was terrified at the look in his eyes; it was like a calmness had washed over him but a fire was burning there. She watched feeling glued to the spot she was crouched in as he slowly turned to face the adults on the table.

"Step back." Harry spoke in a low, calm tone. He lifted his wand up and made a pushing gesture with it. The hall instantaneously became quiet when fourteen adults stood on the table unexpectedly were sent backwards and stuck to the wall. He pulled Snape, Lucius and Dumbledore down with a downward motion of his wand. "Protect them." He pointed to Ron, Hermione and Neville.

Hermione watched in a strange fascination as she felt herself being pulled back by Lucius. His eyes, he had his mother's eyes…….of course. Harry turned to the confounded Death Eaters.

"Wands." All the wands of the Death Eaters flew through the air and scattered over the still crouching students. Where had this power come from? Dumbledore observed his every move, thankful that it had finally come to pass over him. Harry pointed to seven Death Eaters with his wand and with no warning, whipped his arm back, causing the chosen seven to come flying across the room and join the rest of the adults on the wall. "You belong there." He stated without looking at them.

"Harry…." Hermione tried to move towards him but Lucius held her back.

"Not yet." Harry replied. A few of the Death Eaters that weren't willing to stay decided to run out of the Great Hall only to be pushed back by Voldemort.

"Giving up so soon?" He spoke with an icy conceitedness. Harry, feeling nothing but a mixture of calm and anger rushing through him, watched the skeletal wizard stroll into the Great Hall. "I see Lucius and Severus have been the ones to give you this gracious warning." He pierced them both with a stare that would cause anyone to cower under it, but they both held it firmly. He stretched out a bony hand towards Harry. "I'll have the wands back." The Death Eaters wands were starting to lift up.

"No." Harry told him as he pushed his wand down, causing the wands to fall straight back down. Voldemort's eyes widened a little at this new turn of events. The whole hall watched with baited breath at the young and old wizard; the praised and feared of the magic world. There only seemed to be two people who understood what was happening with Harry; Dumbledore and Hermione.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!_" Voldemort's shrill voice suddenly shouted at him. A green light went rushing towards Harry but with a quick move of his wand, the light changed course and smashed through a window.

"Now." Harry called over his left shoulder. Hermione pulled herself from Lucius' grip and raced forward with Ron and Neville. A frown appeared on Dumbledore's face; what on earth were they doing?

"How sweet. Gryffindor bravery and loyalty rears its ugly head again." Voldemort sneered. The sneer quickly turned to a look of bewilderment when Harry and Neville started to chant a spell together.

_Generations alike, your presence is in need_

_Come forward through time and space_

_This call of help you must heed_

_Bring your magic to this place_

_Bind together and rest where I stand_

_Make your descendent one with you_

_Give me your love at hand_

_And fight for what I must do_

A swirl of grey mist started to circle round the four people aiming their wands at Voldemort. Hermione and Ron started to chant as Harry and Neville repeated themselves.

_Generations alike, your presence is in need_

_Come forward through time and space_

_Our friends' call you must heed_

_Bring your souls to this place_

_Bind together and join where they stand_

_Make your friends' descendants one with you_

_Give them your love at hand_

_And fight for what they must do_

Figures started to form in the thick mist. Voldemort was beginning to look panicked as his target disappeared in the circle of mist. Each the time the spell was repeated, the figures became more distinct. Hermione glanced around to find they were all now fully formed and smiling down at them. An elderly man dressed in clothes not too different from Nearly Headless Nick's moved to her.

"It is time, my child." His voice had an eerie echo to it. She nodded as he moved back into the swirl. They all finished the chant together in a final tone. Hermione gripped on to Harry's shoulder, while Ron gripped Neville and Neville in turn gripped Harry. The figures sped up and moved upwards before plunging down into the four figures. Ron and Hermione dropped their wands while Harry and Neville kept theirs firmly pointed at Voldemort while they all continued with the spell.

_From this time and space you will have no core_

_No longer will you intimidate _

_From this time and space you will be no more_

_No longer will you exterminate_

A brilliant white light erupted from Neville's wand and pierced through Voldemort. A sharp scream filled the air as the wizard that had caused fear and devastation for half a century evaporated. The students covered their heads as the light suddenly blasted outwards and smashed the windows.

The light slowly faded and the hall filled with quiet. All eyes unhurriedly found their way to where Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville were stood. In his extremely long life had Dumbledore never witnessed such power and brilliance. No one dared to speak or move. Death Eaters were rooted to the spot, not sure of what had just happened.

A commotion could be heard from the Entrance Hall and the rest of the Order entered the Great Hall just in time to see the four heroes fall to the ground.


	26. Chapter TwentySix

**Disclaimer:**Do you seriously think that JK herself would write this story? She'd be horrified if she saw this story.

**A/N:** Straight to the thank yous. sniff sniff **Chantal J - **You're about to find out what happens. **mysticdarkraven - **It's here, would have been up yesterday but it needed tweaking. **SnapeSeraphin - **Takes a bow Thank you, thank you very much. I wanted it to be more but I'm useless at writing battle scenes, you just need to read my first fic to work that one out. But I'm glad you liked it. **hotskittles - **Awwww, you're so sweet, in the words of the immortal Casper, 'Can I keep you?'-) **Serpant Clara - **I get the feeling you didn't like my last chapter much, but then it's not for everyone. I went back and clarified the Death Eater situation and I rectified my mistake with the Voldemort sentence. The rest I hope is explained enough for you in this chapter. Thanks for helping me. **GinnyGin -**I'm glad you liked the spell, I kinda stole the idea from Charmed but some of it is in a poem I wrote. **sarcastic - **I wasn't sure how to fit the Order in, so I made them late instead. **PainsOfThePast - **A new update at your service. **mya - **You don't have to wait too long, the update is here. **seerofsorrow - **Did you get to read Chapter 25 as this is now 26. I hope you did. **SongOfStars - **The next is here. I didn't want to spell my name out but I can never think of anything original and this was the best I got. **Pernille - **The next chapter is written and here for your perusal. **CharmedLeoLvr - **Do you think I'm that cruel?...You'll have to read on. **allana - **And all your questions will be answered...hopefully anyway. **kat lupin - **I'm still writing, but not for long on this story I'm afraid. **angelzeus - **I've updated but you've gone shopping.-)

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**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Hermione started to wake up but felt too drained to open her eyes. She rolled onto her right side, feeling her muscles ache in protest. She finally started to open her eyes and looked straight ahead. She saw a blue curtain and when she followed it to its end she noticed it went all the way round the bed she was in. She spotted a glass of water on the bedside cabinet and started to sit up to get it.

"Let me get it." A familiar drawl offered from the other side of the bed. She let herself fall back onto the pillow. She watched with a smile as Lucius walked round the bed and came into her view. He looked tired and ruffled. His usual smart appearance was rough and messy, he looked like he hadn't had a shave in days and his blond hair had wisps coming loose from its black bow. She sat up a little while he held the glass for her to take a sip from it. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he put the water back down and sat at the edge of her bed.

"I feel as though I've been slammed against a wall and then done fifty laps round the school grounds." She croaked out, her throat felt raw and like she was swallowing glass. "Where am I?"

"The hospital wing in Hogwarts. You've been here for nearly a week now." Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "You didn't honestly expect to perform some powerful magic with only a few years training behind you and be perfectly healthy afterwards, did you?" He gave her a smirk that confirmed everything. Voldemort was gone and she had been a part of it.

"Where are the others?" She whispered to prevent her throat hurting anymore. He soothingly started to smooth her hair down as he spoke.

"They're in the next few beds. None of them have woken up yet. Where did you learn that spell, Hermione?" He had been so worried that she wouldn't wake up again. Even Dumbledore was speechless at the spell, having only vaguely heard about it. But it wasn't without a doubt that he couldn't have been more proud of them.

"In a book, where else would I have learnt it?" She teased him. He laughed softly at her joke. "So what happened?"

"Absolute pandemonium broke out when you four decided to collapse. All the Death Eaters started fighting back, trying to get their wands. But the Aurors arrived and thankfully there were no fatalities with the students. A few have been seriously injured but it is to be believed that they will be fine." He relayed the events to her. Snape and he had avoided every spell thrown at them just to pull Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione out of the crossfire. He had always known that his master had feared Dumbledore and for the first time that night, he knew why. Knowing that the students were safe from Voldemort, Dumbledore had unleashed his wrath on the Death Eaters there. Even the Aurors couldn't keep up with his power, and it was then that a deep respect was formed for him by Lucius.

"I want to see the others." She stated, forcing herself to sit up. He tried to make her stay put until Madam Pomfrey had seen her, but she refused. Instead, he resigned himself to holding her while she stumbled over to Neville's bed first. She noticed that all the beds in the wing had curtains pulled around them. Lucius led her into the bed to the left of hers.

She smiled when she saw Neville. He looked peaceful and relaxed and like nothing would scare him again. She moved slowly to him and took his hand before leaning down towards his ear.

"Wake up." She whispered to him. He started to stir but settled back into his slumber. "Neville Longbottom, wake up this instant." She whispered more harshly.

"Five more minutes, Gran." He mumbled sleepily, his throat just as croaky as Hermione's.

"Come on, Neville, we have to wake Harry and Ron up." She urged standing back up. Lucius was stood at the end of the bed watching her with fascination; friends were truly everything to her.

Neville's eyes flickered open and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light of the hospital wing. His eyes suddenly searched his questioningly.

"Did it work? Did we really do it?" He winced as he sat up to look at her properly.

"You did it, Neville. It was you the prophecy was talking about." She proclaimed excitedly, ignoring the pain of talking. He frowned at her. "The spell came out of your wand; we just helped to increase the power." A glazed expression passed over his features as he thought back to them doing the spell. Harry had been through all of that through his life only for Voldemort to have the wrong boy. He started to get out of bed with the help of Hermione.

"Lead the way, Lucius." Hermione requested as Neville and her gripped onto each other for support. He opened the curtain for them to step back out into the wing and led them to Ron's bed on the other side of Neville's. He pushed the curtain back for them and decided to stay outside while they woke him up. There was some whispering before a loud croaky voice could distinctly be heard saying, 'bloody hell' followed by shushing noises. Finally they went to the last bed. Lucius left them to it while he went to get Madam Pomfrey.

Harry had barely opened his eyes when the nurse came swishing through his curtains. She never spoke a word while she forced them all to take a Pepper-up potion and did a check-up. The four patients watched her in silence and once she had finished, she pulled them all into a bear hug that would rival Mrs Weasley's.

"There will never be any one like you lot and I'm proud to say that I know you." She spoke through tears and then raced out into the wing to check the rest of her patients.

They were all still in silence sat on Harry's bed when she left. They had so much to say yet not sure where to start. Ron opened his mouth a few times and then closed it again.

"You look like a goldfish, stop it." Hermione scolded with a smirk.

"It's just….are you….." He kept stumbling over what he wanted to say when finally Harry stepped in for him.

"We trust Malfoy. He did more than enough to prove himself last night." Harry stated while twiddling with the edge of his bed sheets.

"You mean last week," She corrected, "We've been out for a nearly a week." Their reactions mirrored hers when she had found out too. "Apparently the spell was more powerful than I thought."

"Anyway, are you really going to marry him?" Ron spat out finally finding what he wanted to say. Usually it would have been asked with more venom, but after seeing Lucius protect the students and Hermione the way he did, his trust in him had improved greatly. It was definitely a fresh start for them all. Never in a million years would they have seen a Malfoy love a Muggle born, but it was happening.

"I've not changed my mind; I just hope that you have this feeling one day. I don't know how I lived without it." She told them with a deliriously happy smile across her face. Lucius was outside listening in with a smile to match Hermione's. He had thought she had forgotten but didn't want to push her.

"Just don't let him hurt you," Neville added to the conversation, "Or I'll have to do some serious damage to him." All three of them choked at Neville's words.

"Your confidence has certainly improved." Harry laughed, giving him a playful punch on his arm. Neville blushed at the compliment and let his head drop in embarrassment.

"Do I have your blessing?" She questioned nervously, her eyes darting between the three males. There was a long silence before they all nodded with a smile.

Dumbledore strolled in to the hospital wing later that day with a bright smile and laughing eyes. He found the heroes of the war still gathered on Harry's bed with Lucius lingering around outside the curtains.

"Go home, Lucius," Dumbledore chuckled, "You need your rest and she'll still be here when you come back refreshed and alert." The blond slowly nodded. Without saying a word, they shook hands and Lucius left with one last look at Hermione through the crack of the curtains.

Dumbledore walked through the curtains, causing their chatter to come to a halt. He was positively beaming at them now.

"How are you all feeling?"

"We're all fine, Headmaster, but we were wondering-" Hermione started for them.

"You were wondering what happened to Harry." His eyes were dancing as he spoke.

"I remember what was happening, but it was like I was watching myself. And the power….." Harry still felt as though he had imagined it all.

"It's to do with his mother, isn't it?" Hermione asked quickly.

"Yes." He nodded. "It doesn't surprise me that you have worked this one out. You truly are one of the brightest witches we've had in a long time. Maybe even since Lily." Hermione blushed at his compliment.

"Everyone is always mentioning how Harry has his mother's eyes. For his eyes to be that distinguishable, then it surely had to mean something. And it all fell in to place when he took control of what was going on. There was a fire and passion in his eyes that I had never seen." Hermione explained how she had come to the conclusion of how Harry had gained such power with her chest puffed.

"Does nothing get pass you?" Ron asked incredulously. Neville started grinning at him. He always knew that Hermione knew everything even though he wasn't as close to her as Ron.

"You see, Harry, your mother was a very powerful witch and had a power that hadn't been seen for centuries. She had the ability to see into a person and find out who they really were. It was even possible for her to tap into their powers should they not be someone she didn't like." Harry frowned at this new information.

"Why someone she didn't like?" Neville questioned.

"Your mother never got it wrong, Harry. If she didn't like that person then you would always find them to be a follower of Dark magic or Voldemort himself. Her power would give her the ability to use their own magic against them. It made its presence known when she was extremely angry." Dumbledore explained to him. He could still remember her using it as though it was only yesterday.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Harry demanded a little annoyed that he hadn't known about this before.

"I couldn't be sure that you had inherited it. Yes, you had your mother's eyes, but the power had to make itself known first."

"But I didn't know what I was doing and if I can tell the difference between someone who is on our side or Voldemort's side, then why didn't I trust Lucius Malfoy straight away?" Harry replied indignantly. He wasn't sure if he liked a power that took complete control of him.

"You didn't trust Mr Malfoy because your power hadn't come to light. But it has now."

"How do you know that for sure?" Ron demanded for Harry.

"What made you pick seven spies for the American ministry and take them away from the Death Eaters?" Dumbledore questioned with a knowing smile.

"I don't know. They just seemed to have this honesty about them." Harry answered honestly as a realisation dawned on him. So that was how he could tell the difference between the trust-worthy ones and the unworthy ones.

"And who'd thought the prophecy was about Neville all this time?" Ron suddenly asked placing the attention on a blushing Neville.

"Where did you find this intriguing spell?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Hermione found it in a book about family magic. She thought that the power Voldemort doesn't know and that would defeat him is love." Harry explained to him. Dumbledore nodded in thought.

"I just thought that with Tom not knowing any real family and having no one to love him as a child, he wouldn't know what sort of power it could hold; especially when he was the heir of Slytherin. Salazar's priorities were to keep the bloodline pure, not his family and love." Hermione told him her theory with pride. Dumbledore smiled widely, she never failed to impress him.

"It still doesn't answer the question as to why Voldemort thought I was his enemy when it was Neville all along." Harry felt very put out about how his life had turned out. Although he would never wish it on anyone, he just felt like he had been robbed of his parents for all the wrong reasons.

"I believe that Voldemort would have paid a visit to Mr Longbottom had his spell not recoiled back on to him when he tried to kill you, Harry. Both of your parents defied Voldemort many times and they all paid dearly for it."

"But he's gone now and I don't want to talk about him anymore." Neville defiantly announced to them. It still hurt him now what had happened to his parents but he couldn't dwell on it.

"Does this mean I can leave the Dursley's now?" Harry asked excitedly.

The exams came and went with a lot of tempers frayed, hair pulling, frustration, blood, sweat and tears. For those that didn't have O.W.L's or N.E.W.T's were rewarded with no end of year exams. A care-free, happy atmosphere had passed over the school; that was if you didn't count the studying students. A silent mutual understanding had passed between the Slytherins and the rest of the houses. There was still plenty of rivalry but it was a lot friendlier than it had ever been.

The Death Eaters that had attacked the school were sent to Azkaban with no trial. They had been caught red-handed attack the school and using illegal curses. Dumbledore had been given a stern reprimand off the ministry for putting his students' lives at risk. They had even asked him to resign but they were inundated with letters from parents saying that they refused to allow him to resign until he wished to resign.

Every student had received a recognition award for what they had done, along with all of the Order and teachers. Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville had received every award known to wizard kind. They had fan mail coming to them by the sack-full. But they didn't get off lightly with their exams. If anything, they were constantly picked on to show how a spell is done.

It was the last week of school and with nothing to do but laze around Harry and Hermione could be found sitting by the lake. Ron was having a broom races with the Gryffindor quidditch team.

"What are you going to do when we leave, Harry?" Hermione asked lazily as she picked at the strands of grass absentmindedly.

"Move as far away from the Dursley's as possible." He told her with a hint of venom in his voice. He had been looking forward to this day for so long. Sirius had left him Grimmauld Place and that was where he was going to live. With it being lived in for the past three years, he wouldn't have to worry about doing a thorough clean of the place. "You have to come and stay with me." He smiled at her.

"I will after the summer, but I have to be with my parents for a little while." She was so excited that she was going to see them in less than a week. "Lucius has been to see them and they love him." Harry laughed as he lay back with his hands behind his head.

"Who'd have thought you'd be marrying a Malfoy and that Lucius would actually want to spend time with Muggles." Hermione grinned at the thought. If someone had told her last year what would happen then she would have made them go to have a check-up. Lucius was civil with Harry and Ron and they had even had a full conversation on the last Hogsmeade weekend without Hermione there to be a buffer. They could never be friends but they tried for Hermione's sake; they wanted her to be happy.

"What do you see when you look at Lucius, Harry?" Hermione had been wanting to ask that question since she had found out exactly what Harry's new power did but was scared of what he might say. He looked at her for a moment before smiling widely.

"I've never seen anyone love someone as much as he loves you. He still has his beliefs firmly etched in him but he seems to fight them all the time, he loves you too much to lose you over them." He told her honestly. "And yes, I would trust him with my life now. Not so much junior but him I would." Hermione jumped on him and crushed him with a Mrs Weasley style hug. They sat in silence for a moment when she finally let him go.

"So are you going to train to be an Auror or are you going to go with a Quidditch career?" She asked him as she lay on her side to face him with her head propped up on her hand.

"Quidditch. If I haven't gotten good marks in Potions then I'll be stuck with no career if I turn down my offers. So I've taken up the Magpies offer." He started training with them in September and was really looking forward to doing what he loved for a living. "Has Ron told you he's been taken on by the Cannons?"

"Harry, I was there when he started shouting in the common room. I just happened to be studying, which is what you two should have been doing." She scolded playfully.

"You don't think we'll lose touch, do you?" He asked as he lifted himself up to face her.

"I love you both to much to let that happen. Who's going to keep Lucius in form if you we don't?" She asked him rhetorically. They had been through so much that it just wouldn't be possible for them to lose touch. Harry nodded. He never thought that this day would come; they were happy, carefree, and worry-free and school was nearly over.

"When do you start your training?" Harry asked. It hadn't surprised him when her chosen career was to teach Arithmancy. She had always loved that subject and she was always good at explaining things.

"Beginning of October. Can you believe it's time for us to leave Hogwarts and be adults now?" Even though they had been through some tough times, it had all gone so quickly.

"Let's hope that we don't get ourselves nearly killed so often, it was beginning to wear thin with me." He joked, causing Hermione to slap him playfully. He laughed as he stood up and pulled her up with him. "I'm starving."

"Tell me again, Harry, what exactly is your mother's power like?" She questioned as they walked back to the entrance of the school. It was a rare gift that he had and Hermione was jealous that she didn't have the knowledge of what it was like.

"I've told you a million times." He sighed as they reached the steps.

"I know, but tell me again."

**A/N: **This isn't the end...yet.-)


	27. Epilogue

**Disclaimer:**Are we still waffling on about it not being mine?

**A/N:** This is now the end. I hope it does the story justice and that you all liked it. I will be writing more fan fics of different varities but they may have to wait a little while. Thank you all for reviewing this story and not one flame. (I honestly thought it would be nothing but flames on this story) And that's it really...so read on.

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**Epilogue**

**One year later….**

"I can't believe you're marrying Granger." Draco drawled to his father as he straightened out his black robes. "I refuse to call her mother."

"No one expects you to, Draco." Lucius smirked at him through the mirror. He checked his appearance once more before facing his son. "But you will treat her with respect." He warned the younger Malfoy.

"You've already threatened me with that one." Draco taunted. Lucius gave him a swift clip round the head with the back of his hand. "Let's go before you're late for your own wedding."

Hermione was at Harry's, stood before a mirror watching her reflection. Ginny had helped her with getting ready and the result was amazing. Her dress was simple and elegant; an ivory strapless outfit that had tight bodice and an A-line skirt. She had a pattern of clear beads across the top of the bodice and the hem of her skirt. Her hair was tied up in curls with a few wisps hanging down.

Ginny herself was looking stunning in her wine coloured bridesmaid dress. It hugged her figure, showing everyone that she was no longer a little girl anymore. Her hair in a simple, lose plait with red rose buds dotted through it.

Harry and Ron walked into the room and gasped.

"You look beautiful." Harry managed to get his compliment out to Hermione. She was still staring at her reflection; she could barely recognise herself. "It's time to go." She felt tears prick at her eyes as Ron led her downstairs. Mrs Weasley burst into tears when she saw her. The rest of the Weasley clan were speechless.

Hermione arrived at the church where her parents were waiting for her. Her mother cried and was taken into the church by Mr Weasley. Her father proudly held his arm out for her. He led his only daughter down the aisle behind her two bridesmaids; Ginny and Luna, who were being led by Harry and Ron.

Lucius turned round as the music started to see Hermione come through the doors. He smiled broadly when he saw her. He felt his heart swell with pride, knowing that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. He felt honoured that she would want to be with him, past and all.

The ceremony went smoothly and beautifully. Mrs Weasley and Mrs Granger sobbed all the way through it. Even family members and friends on Lucius' side couldn't help but be moved. Harry, Ron and Draco kept their arguments to themselves for the day and spoke civilly for the better part of the day.

The day was peaceful and filled with people having fun and not worrying about anything. Hermione and Lucius getting married was a symbol to them. A symbol that things were changing for the better and that prejudices shouldn't get in the way of living.

At the end of the night, Hermione threw her bouquet and it landed on Harry's lap thus causing him to blush as red as Ron's hair. A quick goodbye was said to everyone before they went on their honeymoon and embarked on married life together.

"I love you more than anything on this earth." Lucius whispered into her ear as they arrived at their hotel in Florida.

"I doubt you love me more than I love you." She teased him. He growled as he picked her up and carried her to the reception. "The Malfoys, honeymoon." She managed to laugh out to the smiling receptionist.


End file.
